Above It All
by 3tinkgemini
Summary: SEQUEL TO ABOVE ALL ELSE Caroline's world shifted in a single life changing night but with Klaus by her side,they'll navigate the murky waters of their new lives ough a new danger is lurking in the shadows,waiting and seeking out the perfect time to w bonds are formed,old friends become formidable enemies and everyone is tested in ways they could never imagine.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome back to one and all!

I have so much that I want to say but I am rushing to get this posted before the clock strikes twelve! No it won't turn into a pumpkin but I want the published date to read 4/18/2017 since that is exactly ONE YEAR since the posting of the first installment, Above All Else! If you are new to this series please head over to my page and read that one first, not a lot will make sense here if you don't.

I have had a few bumps in the road lately, and I am sorry for taking so long to get this written and that it is a little shorter than my normal updates. Time is running out on this day so I will leave the rest for the Author's Note of Chapter two.

Anywho, without further ado; I give you Above It All. Sequel to Above All Else.

I do not own TVD or TO.

 _ **Flashbacks written in italics. NSFW at the end of this chapter.  
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Caroline tapped her pen against the book that sat propped on her thighs, her mind wandering as she felt the warm breeze glide across her skin and ruffle her hair. Her blue eyes danced over the near similar colored waters from beneath her large sunglasses. The rays of the fading sun sparkled over the water of the sea as it dried the last that remained on her skin from her recent dip in the ocean. Sighing lightly, she glanced back down reading over what she had just wrote in the book and thinking about the man who had given it to her.

 _Caroline laid silently in Klaus's arms, her eyes dry and scratchy from all the tears she had shed long after the battle was fought and won. Sighing heavily, knowing there was more to come, she knew she had to take advantage of this small reprieve her emotions were giving her._

 _She tilted her head, looking up to Klaus with a drawn and haggard face, her voice raspy, "We should go let him out now."_

 _Klaus winced at the pain in her voice as he brushed his fingers over her salt stained cheek, answering her lowly knowing she did not need any more conflict this night, "I can take care of it Caroline."_

 _She shook her head against the crook of his neck, "No. It's fine." Sluggishly she sat up and turned her head to look at him with her brows furrowed, "Then again, maybe you should come with me. You know, to help protect me."_

 _Klaus chuckled as he lifted his body off their bed in one sleek move, "I'm sure he won't be as angry as all that."_

 _Caroline scoffed as she began to trudge down the hallway, "Clearly you've never seen him pissed off."_

 _Keeping up with her steady yet unhurried pace, "I'm sure Steven will understand, we were only looking after his safety."_

" _Here's hoping, but I'm not counting on it. Even if we did have the backing of nearly half the coven."_

 _Turned out Caroline was correct. Steven had ranted and raved when they released him from one of the holding cells in the Mikaelson's basement. He didn't care how many of them wanted to keep him safe, he did not appreciate being knocked unconscious and kept from the battle._

 _The sound of the front door slamming echoed throughout the halls, resounding within Caroline's chest so deeply she would have sworn she would never see him again. As Klaus had wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders, she buried her head into his chest taking solace in the fact that even if Steven was so angry that he might never speak to her again, at least he was alive._

 _So, to say that she was stunned when he had shown up a few days before she and Klaus were scheduled to leave would be an understatement. Steven had begrudgingly agreed that he was happy to be alive and safe, that by being the only human of the group he would have had little means to defend himself. He made sure to stress the fact that by no uncertain terms did that mean he agreed with what and how they accomplished such a feat._

" _I love you Sunshine, even when I am steaming out my ears mad at you." Steven had whispered as he hugged her tightly. He gave her a grin that was more a grimace than a smile when he pulled away, "Now what's this I hear about you taking a trip?"_

 _She rushed to explain, "I'm not running away. I'm not hiding out or anything I just need some time to…" Caroline trailed off with a gulp._

" _Breath Sunshine, just breath." Steven took slow deep breaths, his eyes crinkling with a smile when she mimicked him, "Good. Now you don't have to explain anything to me. I understand and honestly, I think this is the best thing for you under the circumstances. Go off into the sunset with that hunk-tastic hybrid of yours, Let him carry you away to paradise so you can grieve and sort yourself back out again."_

 _He paused to pull a small hardcovered book out of his satchel slung across his chest, "Here, take this with you."_

 _Caroline had opened the book expecting to find all sorts of words of wisdom and antidotes to keep her amused in attempts to lift her spirits but was dumbfounded at what she found. Cocking an eyebrow, she looked at him skeptically, "The pages are blank. Why are you giving me an empty book?"_

" _I know how your mind works Caroline. You need to sort and shift through everything that has transpired and all the possible outcomes before you can find closure. And knowing you as I do, you will do this on your own to an obsessive degree. So, the empty book." Steven shrugged and waved his hand towards it, "A journal if you will."_

" _You want me to keep a diary." She stated in a monotoned voice, staring at the object in her hand as if it had a disease. At the moment, she could hardly even think of all that had happened, let alone process it all. How in the world was she supposed to write about it even to herself?_

 _Steven gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "You'll figure it out Sunshine." He looked at her with a soft smile as if he knew exactly where her thoughts were heading. He suddenly inhaled deeply, blowing his breath out heavily before looking into her eyes meaningfully, "and in regard to closure; be sure you find a little of that here in Mystic Falls before you go galivanting off across the globe."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _There is a woman in this town Caroline that you thought to be a vital family member for most of your life here. I'd hate to think you let that go unhandled before you left." He offered her a meaningful grin before walking out of the room._

 _Caroline kept her jaw clenched tightly until she was sure Steven was gone. The instant he left her lip began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears._

Caroline smiled with a fond shake of her head as she idly fanned the pages of the journal with her fingers. Steven always seemed to know what he was talking about, she thought, even when at times she wished he didn't. She giggled and rolled her eyes heartfeltly as she remembered the argument she had with Klaus a few days after and the events the subsequently followed.

 _XXX_

 _Klaus had been reluctant to let her go out on her own. Standing with his imposing form blocking her way to the front door with his arms crossed tightly over his chest he snarled, "No."_

" _Klaus I'll be fine." She huffed in exasperation._

" _You don't know that for sure what with..."_

 _She cut him off quickly before they gained the attention of the others in the house, "The dangers are gone and I just have something to do before we leave. I_ _need_ _to do this and I need to do it alone."_

 _The rigid set of his jaw as well as the narrowing of his eyes had her sighing. She could easily see what he tried so desperately to hide beneath his hard exterior; his worry. Not only over her safety but also whether or not she would return. Somewhere inside him Klaus still had this crazy idea that she would leave and never come back. Caroline knew it would take years if not decades for him to lower his guard with her completely. Even still, she could see right through him. He used orders and demands, force and anger as a way to hide is more vulnerable emotions._

 _Stepping in close to him she gently ran her hand over his scruff covered cheek, smiling inwardly as he leaned into her touch just a smidge. Moving her head down to catch his eyes with hers she kept her voice just as soft as her touch, "I will be fine. I will come back. No one will hurt me."_

 _Klaus was beginning to despise how easily she could sway and affect him and he tried to stand firm, "You will be fine because you will not go alone."_

" _No, I will be fine because I can take care of myself." Caroline stated strongly as she took a step back._

 _Not to be ignored Klaus stepped forward, his body pressed tightly against hers as he hissed in her ear, "How? With this newly formed powers we know nothing about? The very same ones that you do not want to discuss with anyone yet?"_

 _Caroline lightly shoved him, doing little more than pushing his chest a few inches back. Her eyes glared at him from beneath her lashes as she hissed, "Yes, those powers. Plus the fact that I am not a complete airheaded moron who can't take care of herself don't forget." She snipped as she poked her finger into his chest._

 _Lessening his eyes at her he snarled, "You are not going alone and that's final."_

" _And who made you my Lord and Master huh?" Caroline swiped her hand through the air, pinching the bridge of her nose with her other, "No. We are not doing this. We are not going to fight over this."_

" _Oh and just why is that?"_

" _Because as much as I understand what you are thinking, you need to understand that I have to do this for myself. I love you and I know you love me. So please, just can't you go off the faith of that, stay home and trust that I will be fine and I will be back?" Caroline licked her lips battling against the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes, "I need to do this while I still can Klaus."_

 _Klaus read in her eyes what she was trying to tell him. It wasn't about her losing her nerve or something happening that would make this impossible. No, she was talking about her near crippling emotional state. How one moment she would be having a conversation and then the next she would lock herself away in their room either sobbing her bleeding heart out or staring off at nothing barley able to function._

" _Fine." Klaus caved begrudgingly before offering his own rules, "You will call me immediately if anything, even the smallest detail, seems out of place."_

 _Caroline smirked with a mock salute, "Aye, aye Captain." Before she was out the door._

 _Fifteen minutes later Caroline had found herself standing outside of the police station nervously running her right hand over her left arm. She could only hope that her Mom, she winced as she mentally corrected herself, Liz, hadn't changed her normal work schedule over the past two months since she had left. Since seeing Steven she had debated quietly to herself just when would be the right time to try and talk to Liz. If she caught her after her shift, Caroline knew she ran the risk of Liz feeling tired and not in a very good mood. Catching her before work though posed the risk of ruining Liz's day and while Caroline didn't want to cause her anymore pain she figured it was the safest bet. This way Liz would be awake and coherent for this conversation but still have the option of calling off work if she needed to._

 _Caroline watched from across the street as the familiar police cruiser that had been such a huge part of her childhood pulled into the parking lot off to the side of the building. Squaring her shoulders, she inhaled deeply knowing it was now or never and set off across the street to the parking lot to catch Liz before anyone else seen her._

 _Liz noticed her the moment she stepped out of the car and Caroline tried not to take it too personally when her eyes hardened over as she harshly slammed the door._

" _Whatever is going on, I don't want any part of it." Liz offered in a form of a greeting._

 _Caroline held her hands up in front of her, shaking them back and forth at her wrist, "Nothing is going on I promise."_

" _Then what are you doing here? My shift starts in a few minutes and I…"_

 _Caroline cut her off with a small grin and a light laugh, "Want to get caught up on last night's paperwork. I know. Somethings never change."_

 _Liz paused seeming unsure of what to say before settling on, "While some things do."_

" _Yeah." Caroline breathed quietly while nibbling on her lower lip as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Looking at Liz's face all Caroline seen was the only Mother she had ever known. Through the good times and the bad, for just over the past decade Elizabeth Forbes was the only Mother she had had. Yet knowing the truth of everything finally gave Caroline the understanding of just why sometimes her Mom, Liz she winced as she corrected herself again, would give her that strange off kilter look like she wasn't sure just how to act around her._

 _It was that understanding that gave Caroline the push she needed to speak, "So, I'm leaving town for a while."_

 _Liz blinked her eyes as if that was not what she had been expecting to hear, "Oh?"_

" _Yeah after, I mean," Caroline cursed her emotions for running so hot and cold. One minute she could control herself to the point she felt numb to everything and then the next, like right now, her eyes had a mind of their own and would well up with tears._

 _A look of sympathy and understanding passed over Liz's face, and in a move that seemed to surprise her as much as it did Caroline, she placed a hand on her upper arm as she spoke softly, "I'm so sorry Caroline. I know what you standing here means for you. And I know just how hard it is to lose someone you hold so dear."_

 _The two women stood staring at each other with tears in their eyes long after Liz had dropped her hand from Caroline's arm._

 _Clearing her throat Liz pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "Well, good luck on your trip. I should go."_

 _Caroline felt panic rise in her chest at the sight of Liz's back. Without thinking she shouted, "Mom wait!" Her breath caught in her throat as Liz turned back to face her, "I'm sorry. So, so sorry. I know you're not really my Mom and I get it now why you kept yourself distant from me all these years. But, you are the only Mom I have ever known. And even if you didn't get it right, even if I didn't get it right by you; you helped make me who I am."_

" _Caroline please. Don't." Liz croaked._

 _Caroline lifted her hands and slowly crept towards her, her eye begging Liz not to turn and run away like she could tell she really wanted to, "Please, just let me say this and I promise you will never have to see me again if that's what you want."_

 _Seeing that she had her attention Caroline waved her hand towards the police cruiser, feeling a tiny bit relieved that Liz followed her to the trunk and leaned against it with her._

" _I want you to know that I understand now." Caroline began quietly, "And I can't even begin to imagine how hard it was for you to not only lose your daughter but to out of nowhere have me there. Wearing her clothes, sleeping in her bed, pretending to the whole town that I was her."_

" _I wasn't allowed to grieve. She was sick, we knew she was dying but still. All of a sudden on the day I lost her I had this other little girl, who looked so much like her, that I had to take in and raise. I had to tell everyone you were her, so I couldn't even ask for the comfort I so desperately needed from my family or friends." Liz gulped, her breath harshly panting from her clenched teeth, "All I could feel was that I was letting my daughter down, that she would think I was replacing her with you any time I allowed myself to care for you."_

 _A far off tone took over Caroline's voice as her eyes smiled at Liz holding her captive, "She didn't. She loved you and only wants you to be happy. She's at peace and no longer felt any pain after she passed in her sleep."_

 _Liz's face went pale as she grasped Caroline's arms asking her frantically, "How do you know that? No one knows she passed in her sleep. How do you know?"_

 _Caroline shook her head as if clearing a fog from her mind, her brows furrowed as she answered, "I don't know. I can just…feel it. God does that even make sense?"_

 _Liz slowly let go of her arms, a look of understanding crossing over her face, "Given whose daughter you really are? Yes." Taking notice of Caroline's confusion Liz continued, "You still have a lot to learn about your family's history and your powers. But before you ask, I'm not the one to give you answers. I don't know much because honestly, I didn't pay much attention. I never thought you would wake up in my lifetime and then after you did…"_

 _Caroline laid a hand to Liz's arm with a tender understanding smile, "It's okay."_

" _Well I really should be getting into work."_

 _Caroline nervously fidgeted on her feet, with her head tilted down her eyes looked up at Liz, "Can I ask just one thing?"_

 _Liz debated before giving in with a nod._

" _All our time together; all our memories?" Caroline bit her lower lip before whispering through her closing throat, "They weren't all bad, were they?"_

 _Liz smiled gently with a subtle shake of her head, "No Caroline, they weren't all bad. It was hard and I am ready to start my life over but they weren't all bad."_

 _Caroline smiled shakily nodding her head once, "Thanks Liz. I hope one day you are able to find happiness again."_

" _You too Caroline. You too."_

 _With that Caroline watched as Liz pushed her body off the trunk of the car and walked into the police station without looking back once. She stood there long after the door had closed, her mouth tasting blood from pressing her teeth into her lower lip in an effort to control its trembling._

 _A sudden whoosh next to her brought with it the comforting scent of Klaus and in the next instant she was wrapped up within the shield of his loving arms. Her shoulders shook, her voice muffled against his powerful chest, "I thought I told you to stay home. That I wanted to do this alone."_

 _Klaus cradled the back of her head with his hand as he held her close, "You did My Love. But as you will come to find out, I rarely do as I am told."_

" _Rebel." Caroline mumbled against his chest._

 _Klaus chuckled lowly, "On occasion. Though I am sure you will forgive my transgressions in following you here, especially considering how tightly you are holding on to me."_

 _Caroline purposefully squeezed him tighter, grinning through her tears in delight as the breath wheezed from his lungs under the force. She tilted her head to look at him with a poor excuse of a scoffing smirk, "Stalker."_

 _Klaus winked at her, "It's not stalking if the subject enjoys it."_

 _His quip gained him a huff and an eye roll from her. Klaus slid his hand from the back of her head to lightly feather his fingertips over her cheek, "Tell me truly, are you alright Caroline?"_

" _With what just happened with her?" Caroline sighed as she thought over her encounter with Liz. Her blue eyes dried and her voice carried a conviction that surprised the both of them, "Yeah, I think I am."_

 _Klaus eyed her skeptically as she extracted herself from his arms only to link her right one with his left and pull them into a casual walk down the sidewalk of downtown Mystic Falls, "So what did you two ladies talk about that makes you believe so?"_

 _Caroline gasped in mock surprise, "You mean you didn't listen in? What a horrible stalker I have!"_

 _Klaus laughed, choosing to take the easy ribbing from her if it meant he could enjoy this side of her for the time being, "Guilty as charged, Love. But I would have to say that it counts as points in my favor as your lover that even while following you I still gave you your privacy."_

 _She playfully knocked her hips into his, "Oh be still my heart, what a charming Prince you are!"_

 _Once their laughter died down Caroline shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. We just had a moment of closure I guess."_

 _Ever vigilant when it came to her, Klaus caught the flash of uncertainty that over took her eyes for a spilt second. Narrowing his eyes at her he asked her firmly, "There is more to it than that. What else happened?"_

" _Nothing gets by you, does it?" She evaded._

" _Not when it comes to you it doesn't." He stared at her with his lips pressed waiting for her to speak._

" _Ugh! I'll never get away with anything with you!" She tossed her hands in the air._

" _Caroline," He growled, "Stop stalling."_

" _I don't really know what happened. She was talking about her daughter she lost and somehow I just knew things, could feel them deep inside my gut." She pressed her hand unconsciously to her midsection._

 _Klaus opened his mouth to question her further only to snap it shut under her penetrating glare. "This is another of those odd supernatural occurrences you are having that you do not wish to speak of, isn't it?"_

" _Yup." Caroline smacked her lips together, bouncing on her toes as they continued to walk._

" _You do understand that we must tackle all that is changing with you sooner rather than later, correct?"_

" _Yes, but not today." She said with a resolute nod before adding quickly, "And not anytime soon. I just want to process all this before we start telling everyone and diving into it all."_

 _Klaus caved in with a jerky nod of his head. While he understood what all this meant to her and what it was doing to her emotions, he also knew that they were going to need to figure out what all these things meant for her. What her weaknesses were, what her powers would be, how the bloody hell she had shifted into a wolf. He could feel his panic at the unknown rise as it bubbled in his gut._

" _You're over thinking this again." Caroline seen him clench his jaw in vexation. Sighing she tugged on his arm, pulling him to a stop, "You promised. You promised me we could go away so I could clear my head and grieve. And once I am ready, then and only then, would we start diving head first into this mess." Placing her hand to his chest she pressed against it lightly, letting him feel she was there with him, "I know this isn't easy for you Klaus, we've had this talk already. But I need this."_

 _It was her eyes that calmed him as much as it was her hand rubbing small soothing circles against his beating heart, "Aye. That I did."_

 _Caroline smiled tenderly at him, "Thanks." She began to say something else when the peal of a child's laughter rang through the air followed by a deep masculine chortle._

 _Her eyes followed the sight of a little girl being chased by her father through the park. Klaus turned his head to glance over his shoulder to see what had captured her attention. When he looked back at her he felt his body sag at the sight before him._

 _Her face was pale, her eyes held a far-off gaze filled with nothing but pain and her entire body had stiffened rigidly._

 _Klaus carefully tucked her rigid body beneath his arm, pulling her in close as he whispered, "Come on, let's get you home."_

 _She walked mechanically by his side as he guided her away from prying eyes. Klaus was well use to this mood settling over her since the night her Father had passed. Caroline shutting down was her way of protecting herself when the emotions became too much._

 _As soon as they were out of sight Klaus bent at his knees, scooping her up into his arms and flashed them towards home as she curled into his warm embrace and began to sob. It was in that moment that Klaus decided where to take her to first. She needed to be away from other's, with nothing but the sounds of nature to comfort her._

XXX

And take her away he did.

Caroline smiled from her lounge chair, her toes curling in the pink sands of Elafonissi Beach. When they had first arrived in Greece, Klaus had a chartered boat waiting for them to spirit them away to the secluded and private; Silver Island. The small family owned island was used as a private yoga retreat that required booking months, if not a year, in advance. Caroline had been too depressed to even think about those who had lost their reservations due to how ever Klaus had made it happen. She could only hope that they had all got their money back or were able to reschedule.

She wasn't too broken up about it though, the few weeks they had spent on that island with nothing but the ocean and time passing them by, was exactly what she had needed.

Once she felt ready to venture back out into the world, Klaus had made a fabulous tour guide. Showing her the beautiful and stunning sights that Greece had to offer and showering her with the wealth of knowledge he had gained over the years.

The hustle and bustle of the local markets had made her feel giddy once again. The sights and sounds of nature that seemed as if they were gifted from the Gods themselves left her in an awed wonder at the beauty surrounding her. The vivid night sky taken in from a small speedboat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea made her feel strangely connected with the Universe while at the same time left her feeling humble with the realization of just how small everyone truly was.

All in all, what had begun as a difficult adventure with her feeling like she would never be able to crawl back into the land of the living again; had turned into something beautiful, magical and peaceful.

Caroline was jolted from her inner musings when she felt a vibration coming from her beach bag sitting against her chair. Reaching in she smirked at the incoming text message from Steven that simply said, _All set._ Stowing her phone back in her bag, along with her journal, she settled back into her chair with a relaxed moan.

She caught his scent just seconds before she felt his scruff scratch pleasantly against her bare shoulder as his lips brushed a tender kiss to her skin from behind.

"Mmm, I enjoy the sounds you make as you relax while taking in all that nature has to offer you." His lips trailed a languid path over the curve of her shoulder, his tongue teasingly licking under the string of her white bikini top, "But I love the sounds I can pull from your glorious lips even more." He whispered huskily.

Caroline groaned at the warmth his lips and tongue brought to her as he paid homage to the side of her neck. Somehow, he must have sensed she moods had shifted. How she had no idea, it wasn't like she had given off any clues or signals that she was done with the temporary hiatus to their sex life that her grief had imposed. But that was Klaus; always vigilant of knowing just what she wanted before she knew it for herself.

Raising her arm, Caroline threading her fingers through his hair enjoying the feeling of his lips for a moment before speaking, "I'm ready to head back home."

Klaus instantly pulled back, walking around her chair to sit on the space she opened for him as she slid over. His brows furrowed in concern, "Are you certain Caroline?" He had known ever since this morning that she was nearing the point of begin ready for their love making one again. That heated look in her eyes that he had sorely missed as he was dressing left little to his imagination or doubt. But this, wanting to go back home, this struck him seemingly out of nowhere.

Caroline giggled sweetly with her head titled to the side as she lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head, "With all this worrying you do over me, it's surprising you're not going gray."

Klaus gently knocked her hand away from his hair with a light scoff, "One of the many perks of being an immortal creature, no need to concern ourselves with the pesky human conditions of aging."

A bubbling laugh left her lips at the adorable way he had scrunched his nose, "True. But speaking of those pesky concerns; I'm ready to do something I never thought I'd do."

"Oh, and what's that Love?" He tilted his head curiously.

"I want to jump off that cliff you were raving about when we got here." She smiled as his eyes and face lit up in excitement.

"Really now?"

"Uh huh." She nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I figured I might as well give it a try. You know, end this trip with a bang before we head back home."

He couldn't have gathered her things fast enough and she couldn't have laughed more at his childish enthusiasm. She couldn't even find it within herself to reprimand him for compelling all the other jumpers and swimmers to leave. She was just so happy and giddy to see this playful and adventurous side of him. Just as she was excited and thrilled to experience her first real adventure with him alone.

Holding hands, they jumped together off the over one-hundred-foot cliff into the crystal blue waters below with Klaus shouting his exhilaration as Caroline squealed hers.

They both kicked their way to the surface, wiping the salty water off their faces as they laughed with glee.

Caroline was still laughing and smiling brightly as Klaus wrapped his arm around her waist, kicking his feet and propelling them to the rocky wall of the cliff. Lifting her body, he set her on a small rocky lip that was just large enough to fit her bottom as the warm water brushed at her thighs. She felt the mood begin to shift as he propped his body up on an underwater ledge, fitting himself between the cradle of her thighs.

His smile was that of a happy man, while his eyes began to heat with a look she had not been aware she had missed so much. Their bodies still dripped from the sea water making the heat of his chest slid deliciously over hers as he pressed their bodies closer together.

A devilish gleam flashed in his eyes as his hands slowly slid up her thighs, the water brushing the over the tops of her legs causing an indescribable feeling as he lowered his head to place a trail of gentle kisses over her shoulder.

Her fingers threaded through his wet hair, her other hand gripping his back as she began to pant at the heat flaring deep within her body, "I want you."

Klaus hummed against her skin, his lips trailing over her collarbone to the tops of her luscious breast, "As I want you, _Caroline_." He purred her name causing her nipples to pebble as his tongue dipped just below her bikini top while his fingers played with the sides of her bottoms.

Her hips undulated restlessly, feeling the evidence of his need for her brush against her core just shy of where she needed him to be most. Her head fell back against the rocky wall as he used his teeth to pull the fabric away from her right breast. His sinful tongue making slow wet circles around her hardened peak pulling a breathy moan from her, "I need you Klaus."

His hot breath sent shivers through her as he groaned against her nipple, "As need you, _Caroline_." His lips wrapped around her nipple, sucking it into his mouth, flicking his tongue across it just as he began to roll his hips.

Caroline grasped his back and hair harshly in frustration, "God! Will you stop saying my name like that and just get inside me already?"

She could feel his smirk forming before she even saw it when he pulled his head back from her chest, uttering lowly, "I thought you'd never ask, _Caroline._ "

His shorts landed on a nearby rock with a wet smack within the next instant. He pulled her neglected breast free, his lips descending upon it as his hand dove beneath the shallow waters surround her lower body, pushing the fabric away to rub his fingers over her lower lips.

Klaus groaned against her breast, his hips jutting forward when he found her to be soaking and ready for him. His thumb circling her swollen clit as his index finger probed within her silky depths.

Caroline's mouth fell open, her thighs widening at his touch she had missed so much, "Klaus, please."

Klaus raised his head, their heated eyes locking as their panting breaths mingled together. Slowly he lined his hardened shaft to her sensitive folds before easing himself inside of her.

Caroline's eyes fluttered shut as he pressed himself deeper into her core, immersing herself in the feeling of being connected to him on such a primal level. Only to feel him stop moving after he sank all the way in with one hand cupping the soft flesh of her bottom as his other brushed against the side of her face.

Opening her eyes, she sucked in a moan at the desire that swirled within his gray-blue eyes, "That's my girl, look at me _Caroline_."

Her lower lip trembled as she groaned at the way he purred her name yet again causing her inner walls fluttered around him. She laced her fingers together behind his neck, resting her forehead against his, their eyes staring deep into the other's as their hips began to roll and sway.

After not being together like this after so long, Caroline had thought that their first time since before everything had happened would be fast and frantic.

This was anything but.

She felt whole, complete, with each slow thrust and gentle roll. She felt every ounce of love and desire that she was pouring into him come equally back to her in waves as her climax edged closer and closer.

His eyes were glazed over with pleasure, his shaky breath ghosting over her face as he continued his slow deep thrusts of his hips.

Her nipples brushed deliciously against his chest, his pelvis pressing her sensitive clit in a constant motion as he began rolling his hips just a little faster.

Caroline felt a deep need to throw her head back, but not wanting to break eye contact with him she pulled on his neck bringing him closer as her inner walls gripped him and her thighs began to tremble.

Klaus groaned her name shakily, and if she wasn't caught at the start of an intense orgasm, she would have smirked at finally getting him to not purr her name yet again. Instead her inner walls clamped down on his ridged shaft, a long broken cry of his name bursting from her lips as her entire body trembled from the force of her release. His fevered eyes matching with his low growl only spurred her climax on further as she felt the heat of his release as his shaft began twitching deep within her core.

With their bodies still trembling from the onslaught of their mutual pleasure, they sagged against each other, eyes still locked as their lips began brushing with soft breathless kisses.

Untangling her stiff fingers from behind his neck, Caroline lowered them to the tops of his shoulders. Her eyes dancing with his as she smiled tenderly, "I love you."

"I love you." His voice echoed just as tender as her smile.

Breaking eye contact for the first time since they had begun, Caroline sighed dreamily as she laid her head to his shoulder and played with the ends of his hair. After a few minutes of blissful silence her head shot up at the feeling of him growing hard within her once again. "Again?" She squeaked in surprise.

She was met with a smug smirk and a casual shrug, "What can I say, you have me utterly enthralled _Caroline_."

She winced her eyes at him even as heat began to build back up within her core, "I don't care how the way you purr my name affects me. I want a bed this time."

Klaus hummed deeply, giving one last roll of his hips against her before pulling his body away, "That can be arranged _Caroline_."

His dimples appeared as she let out a mixture of a huff and a groan. He watched her right her bikini as he pulled his shorts back on, using the rocky wall to keep afloat. He waited until her body was back in the water before swimming up behind her, pulling her roughly against him to paint a picture in her mind with a sinful whisper, "I have spent many an hour imagining all the ways I could have you throughout our rooms back at the hotel. The bed, the desk, the shower. The list is nearly endless." He felt her shiver as he pressed his hard member against her luscious bottom, pausing to swipe his tongue over salty skin, "I look forward to seeing those erotic imaginings come to life."

Caroline bit her lower lip before quickly spinning in his arms, looking up at him from under her lashes seductively as her husky voice tickled his lips, "Then what are you waiting for?"

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Thank you all for being patient and kind while waiting for this sequel to arrive! If you have the time please drop me a line! (REMEMBER...THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!)


	2. Chapter 2

I will keep this AN short and simple. I am so sorry for the long wait. Life and all that jazz got unbelievably hectic. But to make up for the long overdue chapter I gift you all with this super long monster of a chapter coming in at a whopping, 17,086 words! My longest to date!

Any and all mistakes are my own. I do not own TO or TVD.

Grab your coffee or snacks and enjoy!

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She stood as still as a statue, gripping the doorframe so tightly her knuckles paled. Her mind registering somewhere deep inside that there were tiny slivers of wood digging into her skin from the force. But she was numb. To the physical pain, to the very air around her. To everything but the center of that room.

As she stood there, just staring blindly at the spot where her entire world shifted, a single breath never crossed her lips. The deep burn of her lungs, for even a vampire had to breathe sometime, offered a sort of sick painful release from the pure unadulterated agony she felt staring at the floor of the study.

The fact that the floorboards had been completely replaced sometime during their travels did not have surprised her. Klaus would have had the foresight to commission a team of contractors or use his personal lackeys to have the room looking as brilliant and spotless as it did before…

Her breath hitched, her throat tightened as the first stinging bite of air hit her starving lungs.

Now that she had oxygen coursing through her system her mind began picking up on smaller details. The floor looked strange, oddly out of place. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she inspected it further. The wood of the door cracking once again under the strength of her grip as she realized why it looked so off to her. This was the place where her entire world shifted and yet not a single blemish remained to show for it. Not a single smudge or scratch to give an onlooker any evidence that something dreadful had happened here.

Caroline didn't know whether to be grateful that she didn't have to look at scorched wooden floorboards or unbelievable angry that the torturous sight she had mentally prepared herself for on the flight home was no longer there.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a strong set of arms slowly slid around her from behind. Klaus's lean frame pressed against her back as his hand gently pried her swollen fingers from the doorway. She could feel the circulation returning to her digits as the small splinters began pushing out of her palm. She relished in the slight discomfort it gave her; it meant she was alive while _he_ was dead. She had never been much of a masochist before in her life, but the little fact that she was here while he was not was still a double-edged sword for her. She was happy and thankful to be alive but the cost of that was still too much for her to grasp or handle at times.

Klaus pulled her deeper into his embrace, the soft baritone of his voice rumbling through her. His thick comforting scent acting like a cocoon, wrapping her up in one of the very reasons she was thankful to be alive.

"I knew we shouldn't have come back."

The last sliver of wood worked its way out of her palm as she laid her hands over top of his that was resting against her stomach, "It's okay. I was ready to come back."

Klaus nuzzled his face into the side of her neck, breathing her scent in deeply as his eyes squeezed shut. Even with the room righted back to the way it was before that dreadful night, the memories of seeing her laying near death in the center of the floor next to her Father played like a projection, haunting him of what could have been. Of all that he could have lost.

"Perhaps I was not." The words flowed meekly past his lips without his permission causing him to swallow past the lump that quickly followed.

The pain of the what-if's and what-could-have-been that carried in his voice ricocheted through her heart like a scolding hot knife.

Caroline quickly spun within his arms, finding a haunting gaze within his eyes that she was sure matched her very own. She removed one of his hands from where they sat low on her back, not without a small struggle on his part that brought along with it a slight grin. He didn't want to let her go. Placing it over her beating heart, a heart that beat so similarly to his own now. She then placed her own hands on him, one at his heart the other cupping his scruff covered cheek.

Leaning closer to him, rising to the balls of her feet to place her forehead against his, she whispered passionately, "I'm here. I'm alive. And I love you _so_ much."

Klaus's grey hued eyes searched hers, his hand pressing infinitely harder against her chest to allow the strong beat of her heart to thud against his palm before sliding it smoothly up to her cheek. His heart fluttering as she leaned into his palm with a sigh.

"As I love you Caroline. Indescribably so."

Their eyes were tender, their lips quirking into a half grin before melding into a soft shaky kiss.

It had become an unspoken agreement between them that when he would fall into his wildest fears she would repeat those lines, each and every time. Reminding him that he had not lost her. That she was still here beside him.

The first time it had occurred was only a week after her Father had died. Klaus had awoken in a cold sweat, screaming her name after having such a horrid nightmare showing the events of that night had been drastically different. Instead of Silas, it had been Caroline who had lost her life. Leaving him cold and alone for all eternity. It had taken her far longer than he cared to admit in calming him and to reassure him that she was not the dream, that it had only been his mind playing some malicious trick. She had repeated those words, " _I'm here. I'm alive. I love you.",_ over and over again throughout the night as they held each other close until her voice had finally broken past his fears and embedded into him like a soothing balm.

Caroline hummed against his lips, giving them one last brush before slowly pulling back with a smile and extracting herself from his arms. Puffing out a breath of air, she ran both hands through her hair, sounding much more grounded as she spoke, "Well _that_ happened."

Klaus's lips curled into a half smirk, "So it did." Taking his cue from her, he decided not to elaborate further that this was to be expected. After all, this was the first time they had returned since her Father's demise.

"Alright!" She clapped her hands together, "Enough with the heavy. You Mister," She flipped her wrist upside down with her index finger pointing up at him as she stepped around him and away from the room she didn't think she could ever step foot in again, "need to get ready for our date."

Klaus's smirk deepened as he followed her towards their bedroom, his eyes locked on the natural seductive sway of her hips, "Ah how the tides have turned. No longer do I have to resort to underhanded means to coerce a date from you."

Her head tipped back, her golden hair shaking down her back as she laughed, before she paused to look at him, "No I suppose…Hey! Eyes up here buddy!"

Klaus widened his eyes with mock innocence, "What?"

"You know what." Caroline tried to answer in a reprimanding tone but her laughter got in the way.

"What? I am not allowed to watch your glorious behind?" He came to a stop beside her at their bedroom door. His heated breath sending shivers of delight across the skin of her neck as his hand slowly followed the curve of her backside, "It is mine to behold, is it not Love?" He chuckled throatily at her squeal as he gave her plump cheek a pinch.

Caroline slapped his chest, her voice carrying a laughter that trailed up into her lovely eyes, "Cheeky! Stop that now. We need to get ready."

"Oh yes, for this evening's festivities you have planned, yet have stayed severely mum on." He said suspiciously as they walked into their bedroom. He surveyed the room, his eyes squinting at the 20's era-like suit that laid over the bed as well as the designer dress bag that hung innocently on the bathroom door. "Are we reliving memories of our sordid past? Is there some decade dance happening in the god forsaken town I was not made aware of?"

Caroline nibbled on her lower lip, tilting her head sweetly side to side as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Hmmm, maybe. But maybe not."

Klaus lessened his eyes at her, trying and failing to get an informative read on just what she was up to.

Rolling her eyes at his obvious distrust and how he could never just let loose and go with the flow, "Come on! Just humor me okay?" Seeing he was still unconvinced, she walked her fingers up his chest, toying with his necklaces much like her pouting lips and vivid eyes toyed with his heart, "Please Niklaus? I promise you will go absolutely crazy over my dress."

The way her voice dropped into a seductive promise combined with the lustful glint in her eyes was more than enough to tempt him, "Consider my interest peaked." A wicked smirk took over his lips as he yanked her firmly against his body, his voice a husky timber as his eyes scorched her, "But tell me, will I be allowed to rip said dress from your delectable body when the night is through?"

The look on her face was positively sinful right before she placed an open-mouthed kiss upon his lips, her tongue dueling with his so skillfully that a groan rumbled in his chest as his hips arching against hers.

But it was over far too fast for his liking and she was walking away from him backwards towards the bathroom with a bubbling laugh.

"Well it _is_ your birthday after all. And what's a birthday without ripping open a few _presents_?"

In a flash she was gone, the dress and the make-up bag he had failed to notice sitting inconspicuously on the floor was gone with her, leaving nothing but her tinkling laughter trailing behind her.

He had half a mind to protest. Protest her leaving him in such a state, protest whatever it was she had in store for him. Argue that fact that he would much rather spend the evening above and below the sheets with her.

But he didn't.

Instead he set about getting himself ready for whatever she had concocted for tonight's entertainment.

Besides, he thought with a salacious grin, he did love birthdays and this one would prove to be the best one yet. After all, this one was the first of many to come that he had the greatest gift of all.

He had Caroline.

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The dress was exquisite. The bright blood red color she wore on her lips matched that of the dress precisely, giving her skin an alabaster glow. It was reminiscing of a gown a lounge singer would have worn in the 1920's, though it did have a more modern flare. Woman in the 20's often wore loose fitted clothing while this particular dress hugged her in all the most delicious places, tempting him to the point it should be considered illegal. The intricate beadwork shimmered and shined and it wrapped around her form like a glove down to her hips where it flared slightly into a full-length skirt. The slit that ran from her dainty ankles up to her mid-thigh gave him too many sinful ideas to count.

Klaus almost felt a twinge of regret as his mind began calculating all the ways he could remove the dress from her person as they sipped champagne in the back of the limousine as they cruised down the freeway. But secretly, although by the smug smirk resting upon her blood red lips it was no secret to her at all, he was quite excited for the evening ahead.

Besides, there was always later. She had promised him after all.

As the limousine left the freeway and took to the downtown streets of Richmond, Klaus being to have an inkling of just where they were headed but stayed silent. He did not want to do a thing to spoil the bubbling excitement that radiated off his beautiful Caroline.

His suspicions were proven correct when moments later they pulled to a stop directly in front of Steven's club, _Inhibitions._

The street was strangely quiet when the driver opened the door. After emerging, Klaus waved the man away so he could assist Caroline from the vehicle himself. He watched in amusement as she stowed her phone back into her small clutch trying in vain to be inconspicuous about the text she no doubt just sent off to whomever was waiting for them inside.

Deciding to play a little game of his own he cleared his throat, "Just what are you up to, My Love?"

Caroline pretended to straighten the nonexistent wrinkles from her immaculate dress after she left the limousine, "Who me? Nothing. I just thought we'd make a pitstop and see Steven. It's been ages since we've seen him you know."

"Yes it has, but the club seems to be closed this evening and I'd much rather spend my time with you elsewhere." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before perking up with a smile, "You know, there is that lovely little French restaurant just around the corner. How about you and I go and compel us a private table."

"Okay," Caroline hesitated as she tried to come up with a viable excuse to stop inside the club. "if that's what you want to do. But first let's go see Steven. I told him we were coming into town and he is probably busy with the books or whatever anyways. It will only take a minute."

Klaus waved her off, "Why don't you go ahead and I'll just flash over to the restaurant," He smirked as she grabbed his arm before he could even spin fully on his heels.

"No! Wait!" The look on his face said it all and Caroline's mood deflated as her shoulders sagged, "You know."

"Know what?" Klaus asked feigning ignorance before giving in to her pouting lips. "I may have figured it out." He pulled her into his arms, placing a kiss to her adorably pouting lips, "I promise to act surprised at whatever extravagant party you have planned."

"I tried so hard to pull one, just one, over on you." She huffed in annoyance.

"Well if it helps you to feel better, I had no inking to what you had in store for me until just now."

"So, I did surprise you? Even if it is just a smidge?" Her eyes lit back up as she pinched her fingers close together.

Klaus chuckled before placing a kiss to the tip of her dainty nose, "Yes Caroline, if only a smidge."

Caroline scrunched her nose cutely as he pulled away and linked their arms together with a resolute nod of her head, "Okay fine, I'll take it. But you better believe that at some point in our very long life together I will pull a few over on you mister."

Klaus laughed fully at her confidence, reveling in her firm stance that they would be together for the unforeseeable future, "Of that my beautiful Caroline, I have no doubt."

Steven and his crew had pulled out all the stops to redecorate the club. Upon walking in, amidst the chorus of Happy Birthday being yelled about, Klaus felt as though he had taken a step back in time and was now standing in a speakeasy of one of his favorite eras.

"Klaus! Come and give us a hug birthday boy!"

Klaus's lips pulled up into a genuinely happy smile as Steven's voice rang loudly above the jazz band that began playing and the loud laughter and chatter of the crowd. He pulled the human man in, slapping him gently on the back, "Steven, you certainly have out done yourself."

Steven pulled back with a slight blush and a beaming grin at the hybrid's praise, "Easy there _Old Man_! With such a twinkle in your eyes and the way you are all but manhandling me it might give off the wrong idea."

Klaus chuckled lowly, letting go of Steven and shooting Caroline a mischievous glance. Picking up Steven's hand, he bowed his head slightly over it with his striking grey hued eyes gazing through his thick lashes as his breath ghosted over his skin, "If only my heart did not belong to another."

Steven gasped in awe of just how handsome and evilly flirtatious the hybrid could be. He yanked his hand from Klaus, giving him a soft shove, "You evil old goat!" The group laughed heartily before Steven threw in the last word, "It's lucky for you that your heart is taken, for it wouldn't be your _heart_ I'd be after." Klaus bellowed in mock outrage as Steven gave his hindquarters a healthy smack, yelling over his shoulder as he ambled away, "Consider that your birthday spanking! Only what? A thousand and some odd number to go!"

Kol threw his arm over Caroline's shoulders, "Have I told you how much I love that chap? And brother, who knew you could be such a charmer to the men as well as the ladies hmm."

"Oh, stuff it Kol. It's Nik's birthday so ease up on the ribbing if only for a night." Rebekah scolded before turning to her favorite brother with a tender smile and a hug, "Happy birthday Nik. I do hope you like the set up for the evening."

Klaus could tell by his sister's delicate prodding that she had obviously helped make this night happen. Feeding off the fun-loving energy of the evening, and feeling a genuine happiness that he hadn't felt in so long, he lifted her hand to hold within his grasp answering her with a pure honest affection, "It looks absolutely lovely Bekah, straight out of some of our best memories together."

Rebekah preened under his praise before clearing her throat and reigning in her emotions, a widely used Mikaelson trait, "Yes well, what with you and Caroline out galivanting the globe someone had to oversee the festivities preparations." Leaving her brother's side, she strutted over to Caroline, eyeing the younger girl with a pleased yet hesitant look in her eyes.

"Hey Bekah." Caroline smiled softly, pulling the other girl in for a tight hug. "You did a marvelous job here. Just like I knew you would. How did it go working with Steven? I know he can tend to be just as bad of a control freak as well, us." She giggled.

Rebekah waved her off with a grin, "It went wonderfully. That Steven is just a doll." An excited haze took over her eyes, "He actually asked me to help manage a few events throughout the year, can you believe it?"

"Let's just hope you can make it to those dances Bekah dear." Kol ribbed.

"Kol, enough." Caroline scolded.

Kol spread his hands out wide, "What? She said to ease up on the ribbing of Nik, not of herself."

"Oh whatever, don't mind him Caroline, we never do." Rebekah cut in poking her tongue out at Kol before turning back to Caroline, "So tell me, I know you liked the dress from the pictures I sent you but now that you have it in person what do you think?" Caroline went to answer, but Rebekah's nerves got the better of her and she started rambling making her smile at the trait her unexpected new friend had picked up from her. "I mean, I tried to go with something that had a more modern flare to it. As much as I loved the 20's clothing, most of them were made to be a bit more shapeless than items of today."

Caroline laughed, placing her hand on Rebekah's forearm, "It's absolutely stunning Bekah. Fashion is no easy thing to trust another person with, too many personal choice and possibilities for backstabbing." Her smile turned gentle at the other girl's look of hesitation, "But that is why I trusted you completely. I mean look at me!" She did a mini pirouette with a beaming smile, "I look hot."

Kol's gagging sounds pulled the girls from their bonding moment as well as Klaus as he warmly watched the two most important women in his life, "Come off all this sappy love fest! This is supposed to be a party not a googly eyed make out session."

They rolled their eyes at Kol's antics yet still followed him off to the bar to order their first drinks of the evening. Once each had a glass in hand, Kol lifted his up, "To you on your birthday my tyrant brother. Let the blood flow gently, let the enjoyment be plentiful and may your evening end with the ceremony of ripping that seductive dress off your lovely lady."

Rebekah scoffed as Klaus eyed his brother in anger but Caroline's tinkling laughter, "Here! Here!" gave them both pause.

Rebekah simply shrugged her shoulder's, "Happy Birthday Nik."

After downing the drink Klaus licked his lips, tasting the blood mixed in with the alcohol. Turning a quizzical eye to his lady love, "Blood spiked drinks?"

Caroline shrugged her shoulders, "Well you are a hybrid and it is your birthday."

"Oh come on sweet Caroline." Kol purred teasingly, "Tell our dear brother what we talked his saintly Lady into for his birthday."

Caroline nibbled on her lower lip as Klaus stepped in closer, "Just what is his speaking of?" His narrowed eyes glanced condemningly towards his siblings as his mind swirled with random thoughts of birthday's past with his family. They could have talked her into anything and from all their past birthday activities there were not many he could conjure up that would not leave Caroline in a state of upset, "They did not pressure you into something, did they?"

Caroline glanced quickly to Rebekah, who took it as her cue to latch onto a gleeful Kol and drag him away as he protested, "I want to see this part sister! Unhand me! I've waited all night for this moment." Give the couple a chance to speak alone.

Making herself busy, and giving herself a few moments to gather her thoughts and how to tell him what they had planned underneath the party's exterior, she flagged down the bartender for a refill of their drinks.

Klaus tapped his foot as he watched her. His eyes narrowing at the busy work she was giving herself, "Well Caroline. I am waiting. I understand that you want this day to be special for me, but I will not have you involved in anything that goes against your own morals or judgement. If something less than savory is afoot then…"

"No. Nothing as bad as you are thinking." She cut him off before he got too upset, "And it's nothing I don't agree with per se," She added with pinched lips, "I can promise you that it does come with conditions and every vampire in attendance has agreed on point of death."

Her silence was doing nothing to calm his steadily rising temper, "Where the White Oak has failed, the suspense is winning out. Tell me Caroline." He demanded.

"God you're so pushy you know that?" She huffed sassily.

"Pot, kettle. I believe we've covered this ground plenty of times before." He pointed a finger between the two of them before pointedly lifting his eyebrow as if to say, _I'm waiting._

"Okay fine. So, see all the humans that are here?" She waved her hand around the pack club before pulling her hand back in to fiddle her fingers together once he nodded, "Well they have all been compelled to not feel pain, to not remember a thing about tonight other than they had a kick ass time at a VIP party here at _Inhibitions_ , and then to spend the next few days at home where they will be safe from any…accidents."

Klaus stood staring at her in a sort of shock, his eyes large and his mouth hanging open causing Caroline to giggle, "Looks like point one for me." At his confused look she smiled brightly, "I pulled one over on you already!"

"So," He said slowly as the ramifications of just what she had orchestrated with his siblings set in, "the conditions?"

"No killing obviously. And the humans and the vampires all have a different drinking menu. Vampire's drinks have the option of being spiked with human blood and the human's drinks are all spiked with just a drop of vampire blood for healing. They've all been pre-compelled." Her forehead wrinkled, "Pre-compelled? Is that even a word?" She shook her head, "Doesn't matter. Anyways, there is no need to compel them again all you have to do is ask or bite."

Klaus was utterly stunned. As far as birthday events went, this one was by far the tamest of them all and yet he couldn't help but feel worried, "Are you sure about this Caroline? Is Steven alright with this happening under the roof of his establishment?"

"Steven took a little convincing and the coven knows absolutely nothing about this at all."

"But what of you Caroline?" He asked softly as he trailed a finger over her cheek and down her neck, "I will not have your evening spoiled for something that I could not care less was a part of the festivities."

Caroline shrugged her shoulder's, "Look, you know me and my past. Obviously, I don't view feeding as you and your family does. But," She spoke over him as he went to interrupt, "This is all part of being a vampire, right? This whole seeing you feed on people is bound to happen at some point so why not in a controlled setting?"

He knew she was uncomfortable, just as he knew she meant in a setting she could feel as if she held the control. He vowed to make it a point to have her see that him feeding on the living was not the bloodbath nor the no doubt sensual affair she had been predisposition to think it to be.

Klaus removed the now empty glass from her hands, setting both his and hers to the bar top and pulled her into his embrace. His finger lightly trailed down her cheek in the softest of touches, "You are an utterly exquisite woman Caroline Forbes. I do not know what I ever did to deserve you, but I hope that someday I can feel as though I am a man deserving of your love and loyalty."

Caroline blushed and huffed in embarrassment, "You sure are free with your praise tonight, aren't you?"

"Are you complaining?" He asked with a twinkle in his eyes as his dimples made a breathtaking appearance.

"No. Never." She licked her lips, glancing to the necklaces peeking out of his neckline and back up to his eyes with nothing but pure love and adoration, "I'm glad that you feel like you can be, especially tonight. It's all I wanted for you for your birthday. You to be happy."

Klaus pulled her in closer, whispering reverently, "I am Caroline. Thank you." His lips met hers in the softest of kisses only to be pulled apart with laughter as they heard a conversation from across the club.

" _So where is Klaus? I'm here to wish him a happy birthday and share a drink or two but he isn't even here."_

" _Oh Stefan, my brother can't seem to tear himself away from his tasty little thing."_

"Go." Caroline mouth with a giggle, giving Klaus a push.

Klaus beamed at her, pulling her in close for a swift kiss before he flashed to the other side of the club. Caroline shook her head as she ordered another drink and took a seat on a stool, tuning out of the conversation as she heard threats of livers and splines being ripped out.

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Stefan sat in the center of a U-shaped booth with Klaus and Kol flanking his sides. The older of the three vampires each with a young dazed eyed woman sitting beside them. Klaus raised the woman's arm as he continued with their conversation, casually biting his fangs into her wrist as she sat numbly, yet comfortably, to his left at the edge of the seat.

Caroline sat perched on her barstool across the club watching and contemplating all the thoughts and feelings rolling inside her at witnessing such a thing. There was a twinge of jealousy and possessiveness lurking inside, tempting her to toss the glass, letting it shatter to the floor as she flashed to the other side of the club and ripped the woman away from Klaus. But the longer she observed the more she understood things that she assumed typically only came with age and experience.

Yes, blood sharing was an intimate thing, especially when it was done between two lovers who cared deeply for each other. Then there was the whole sustenance needed for a vampire; blood _was_ how they survived after all. But the movies and books she had watched and read had left her under the impression that feeding was a sensual art that typically led to sex. That and her being a newbie vampire with all her desires blending into the other, bloodlust and sexual lust were never too far off from one another.

But watching Klaus from across the room as she sipped on her blood spiked drink, Caroline made a discovery all on her own. It sounded crass even uttering it in her own mind, but it was like he was feeding from a basket of fries sitting in the center of the table like she had done plenty of times before sitting in The Grill with Bonnie and Elena. It was a mindless, near robotic, endeavor. It was done out of habit and simply to sedate the hunger and not at all done in a provocative way.

 _Who wanted to make-out with a fry after they ate it anyways?_

A small giggle bubbled up from her throat when she saw Stefan pass on the wrist Klaus offered to him. The way Stefan waved his hand with a hint of longing in his eyes was just as she used to do when she was watching her calorie intake before cheerleading tryouts. Though to be fair, maybe not quite the same. Klaus's head tipped back in riotous laughter at Stefan's disgruntled attitude. With Kol's ever present eye for mischief, he began needling the younger vampire relentlessly. She could tell it was all done in good natured fun and watching on from the other side of the room as Klaus laughed and having such a wonderful time filled her with a sense of pride that she had done all this for him.

Caroline nibbled on the end of her straw as she debated whether to head over and join the men when a low clearing of a throat sounded purposefully from the loud group of partygoers that were waiting to gain the bartender's attention.

The group separated as if they were a part if the Red Sea to reveal Elijah, who was doing his best not to show any discomfort. Whether that discomfort was about the crowd rumpling his pristine suit or the fact that he was standing face to face with her, not half a room away from his brother, she couldn't wager a guess.

Caroline eyed him critically as she swirled what remained of her drink, allowing the ice to click against the sides of the glass as if they were ticking away the seconds of Fate's clock. She had to hand it to him, he didn't even flinch. Many of the teenage cheerleader-wannabes, as well as the adult members of the various committees she had over took, had withered and shrunk under the sheer ice of her stare. But then again, this _was_ an Original family member and Elijah had one hell of a poker face.

The fact that she could have him thrown across the dance floor, a hand squeezing around his heart with only a shout of Klaus's name was not lost on either of them. And while that would be comical to see, especially after everything that had happened, she _was_ the one that invited him here.

Shifting her body slightly, she placed her glass to the glossy bar top and stood with her hand held out in a small peace offering.

"I'm glad you came." She said primly as he took her hand within his grasp, lifting it to bow over her knuckles slightly before gently releasing it.

"Are you?" Elijah cocked a skeptical eyebrow, "While I was surprised to say the least at your invitation, I am left at odds wondering what your play is here Miss Forbes."

Caroline rolled her eyes at his suspicious nature, "Well duh, it's Klaus's birthday and you _are_ his brother."

"I suppose I only assumed that after all that has transpired you would be the leader of the bandwagon to keep my family from me." Elijah said with his eyes still holding a hint of doubt even as he allowed his body to relax a small degree.

"That's just it Elijah. _Family._ " Caroline huffed as he completely missed her point. Keeping her voice as calm as possible, not wanting Klaus to intervene just yet, but still needing to get her meaning across, she stepped in closer as she tossed her arms out to the sides. "I mean seriously! Do any of you even have the slightest clue how lucky you are?"

"How do you figure?" He cocked his head to the side questioningly.

Caroline shook her head at how clueless these Original vampires could be. You'd think that after being around for as long as they had they would have figured a few things out by now.

Her large dazzling eyes beseeched him imploringly, her voice a soft melody as she spoke, "After all this time, all the centuries that you've all lived through, no matter how many times you have all literally stabbed each other in the backs," The slight reprimand that carried within her tone told Elijah quite well on just how she felt about such a thing, "you still have each other. You are fortunate enough to have lived as long as you all have and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have family out there if and when you need them. That no matter what any of you have done to each other, you can count on that simple fact. That if you called, the rest would come running. Some of us are not and will never be so lucky." Caroline ended with a melancholy sigh, her eyes gravitating towards Klaus as he smiled and laughed with Kol and Stefan.

Elijah silently digested her words as he stood by and observed her as she gazed at his brother with a stunningly tender eye. "You are wise beyond your years, Miss Forbes. Though I do believe you are wrong on one underlying account."

"Oh?" Caroline turned to look at him with a friendly smile on her face due to his softly spoken words, "And what underlying account would that be?"

Elijah pressed his lips together to withhold a chuckle at her blatantly ribbing at his choice of wording. Instead he straightened his cuffs and took on the wise tone he often used with his younger siblings, "Family is typically composed from blood yes, but _true_ family is those for whom we love and honor. As they too gift us with those same precious feelings as well." Elijah nodded his head towards the opposite side of the room where his brothers and Stefan still sat, "I believe your family is closer than you think."

Elijah's lips cracked into a half smile when Caroline discovered just whom he was speaking of. Glancing back to his brother just as Klaus bit into the woman's wrist once again he turned a worried glance towards Caroline with a clearing of his throat, "I know that you are young in your vampire years, but you do understand that the delicate art of feeding is only simple that; feeding."

Caroline laughed breathily, "I was just thinking about exactly that before you showed up. I think I'm starting to understand that books and movies tend to glamorize things." She turned to look at him with a soft, honest smile, one he was sure had been what had captured his brother's eye from the start, "But thanks."

"Yes, the more modern spin of our life style does tend to lean towards the romanization. While the classics of days past leaned more towards darker tales of suspicion and superstition."

"Huh." Caroline uttered, causing Elijah to furrow his brows in question, "I just realized that the parallels between The Brothers Grimm tales and how you and your siblings can be sometimes really are something else."

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise when Elijah began laughing near hysterically.

"Please excuse me Miss Forbes, but the darker fairytale comparison just caught me off guard. Quite pleasantly so." He smiled as he still chuckled, glad to see that this young woman his brother was so enamored with was not only a beauty but had a keen and cunning mind to match.

Caroline beamed before starting to laugh herself, "Well, at least it was the darker versions and not the Disney versions. _That_ would be just a smidgen too farfetched." She smirked with an eyeroll, "I mean seriously? Could you just imagine Kol charging in on a white horse to save a fair maiden?"

With her pressed lips, her largened sparklingly blue eyes that dared him to envision such a thing Elijah could not help but release a barking laugh, "Believe it or not Miss Forbes, Kol did once impersonate such a feat." He rubbed his forefinger over his chin, feigning deep thought, "Though come to think of it, it was done for more sinister means."

Caroline nodded, mimicking a serious demeanor, "See, Brothers Grimm."

Elijah's smile was bright enough to light up the room in Caroline's opinion. He leaned towards her, grasping her hand between his own, "Miss Forbes you are a delight. A pure delight. It is no wonder Niklaus is so taken with you." His eyes winced as if a troubling thought passed through his mind that weighted heavily upon him, "I would like to offer you my formal apology Miss Forbes. I understand that my previous actions caused you unneeded and added anxiety during a most chaotic time. Not to mention my dreadfully incorrect besmirching of your character. I know that these things will take time to heal, though I do hope that someday in the future you and I will be able to see eye to eye."

Through all his formal, and frankly convoluted ways in Caroline's humble opinion, of speaking, she understood what he was trying to say. Biting her lower lip, she glanced down to the floor in thought before reaching a conclusion and looking back to Elijah. She wasn't quite sure, not having been around him much at all, but it looked as though behind his carefully constructed blank facial features was a hint of nervousness, like whatever was to come was hinged on her very next words.

Only the words never left her lips.

They left her as a surprised gasp instead as Elijah's hands was suddenly ripped away from hers by a snarling Klaus who backed his older brother against the bar as he situated his imposing body between the two.

"You will not touch her. Nay," He sliced his hand through the air, "you will not come anywhere _near_ her again."

Elijah raised his hands as he stated calmly, "I meant her no harm Niklaus."

Klaus narrowed his eyes before growling menacingly, "No, of course not. Let me wager a guess dear saintly brother," He sneered, "You sought her out in attempt to use her against me. To sway her to your side only to try and garner my favor before stabbing me in the back once again. Please, do tell me if I am wrong."

Elijah methodically adjusted the cuffs of his jacket, taking a step away from the bar and stood tall. "Perhaps I only wished to offer my brother well on his birthday."

"Cut the crap Elijah before my hand tears into your chest and spills blood on your overpriced suit of armor." Klaus growled with a hint of yellow tinging his eyes.

"I swear to you Niklaus, upon my word of honor, I only came to wish you birthday greetings in hopes we could put all this ridiculous matter behind us."

Klaus began laughing hysterically, "Ridiculous matter? This ridiculous matter? I would like to know what it is about everything that has come to pass that you find to be ridiculous? Is it how you kept that wench of a doppelganger hidden from me for years? Or is it how you single handedly betrayed each member of your family as you often take pleasure in accusing me of doing?"

"I'd rather love to hear the answer to that myself." Kol's voice chimed in suddenly from beside them with Rebekah flanking his right side.

"I'd like to know just how it is you came to be here." Rebekah huffed, laying a hand to her chest, "I know for certain I did not invite you here, so unless you are having us spied upon…" She let her accusation drag out, filling her other two siblings with doubt as they eyed their eldest brother with suspicion.

Caroline grumbled quietly under her breath before huffing and tossing her arms out to her sides only to let them slap against her thighs, "Oh for God's sake. I invited him here."

Three of the Mikaelson siblings turned with equally shocked and livid eyes at her before all three joined in, venting their disbelief in a way that was hard for even her to follow. And she was a cheer captain! She was used to having to decipher multiple screeching girls argue over who was placed where in the choreography but this was downright insane.

"Enough!" Klaus's voice boomed over the chattering, his siblings knowing his tones well enough, snapped their mouths closed. They nearly felt sorry for Caroline who was now the victim of his rage filled stare. Nearly, but not fully since they too felt the weight of her perceived betrayal.

Caroline folded her arms over her chest, her hip cocked out to the side with pressed lips and a raised eyebrow, daring Klaus to lay his rage upon her. Showing in her stance that she was not afraid or intimidated by his temper in the slightest.

Seeing the fire, the pure conviction of her decision in her vivid blue eyes deflated Klaus's anger, if only by a small amount. He had planned for his next word to come out strong and accusing rather than the breathy plea for understanding that it did.

"Why?"

Her arms uncrossed to lift her hand up to her sides with a slight shrug of her shoulders. The weight of her next words was felt by all around her, even if they tried to tamp it down.

"He's your brother."

The siblings cast knowing eyes amongst each other, flicking between them all before Kol scoffed.

"Yes, the dear and noble older brother whose actions could have gotten us both killed. Or did you plan to forgive and forget that Caroline?"

The sneer of her name instantly bristled against her nerves, "No I didn't forget that. I also don't forgive that yet. But,"

"Yet? Did you just say _yet_?!" Rebekah screeched.

Caroline groaned and ran a hand tiredly over her forehead, "Yes. I said _yet_. But before you all start yelling again or decide to storm off and commit some insane uncalled-for act of violence just hear me out." She eyed each of the pointedly before stopping at Klaus who waved a hand in her direction.

"The floor is yours Love, please tell us all why you thought you should bring Elijah back into the family folds." He sneered sarcastically.

"God. Seriously, you are all way too dramatic." She huffed before continuing beseechingly, "Just think about what you just said; bring Elijah _back_ into the _family folds._ Do the three of you have any idea just how stupid that sounds? I mean come on! Over a thousand years, _a thousand freaking years_ , you have all been family. And for some convoluted reason that means taking the bad, and I do mean the really, really bad because with all your track records? Hello!" She widened her eyes at each of them before continuing, "But that also means taking all the good too. You have all done things to each other that frankly I don't even want to know about but somehow you always stand beside each other. Somehow you always find your way back to one another. That means something. And that also means that you won't stay mad at each other forever. Heck, probably not even for too much longer anyways, so someone had to get this ball rolling or you would all just keep acting like a bunch of children!"

When none of them uttered a single word in response she stomped her foot to the floor, "Fine! Forget it. Stay mad at each other then. See if I care. I mean really, not all of us are as lucky to have actual family just galloping around the world that are freaking un-killable. Go ahead a waste such a wonderful thing for all I care."

She knew her anger over her own family drama was clouding her judgment but at the moment she didn't care. She promptly spun on her heels, storming away with a flurry of golden curls bouncing down her back.

The siblings were left speechless in her fiery wake until Kol began laughing as he slapped his thigh, "Did she just stomp her foot?"

Rebekah blushed with the realization that not only was Caroline right, but it had been like looking in a mirror at one of her own temper tantrums over their family dynamics. "She does have a flare for the dramatics, doesn't she?" Glancing around to see similar accusing looks upon her brother's faces she huffed, "Oh stuff it the lot of you."

Klaus raised his hands in mock surrender, "We haven't uttered a word dear sister."

"There isn't a need, I can see it written plainly all over your faces."

"Well, if the shoe fits Bekah dear." Kol chuckled. "Did you gain some insight into how you look during your tirades of family honor?"

"I like her." Elijah spoke up with a fond, "She had spunk and a kind-hearted way of seeing the truth of things that many are blinded to."

Klaus turned a distrustful eye towards him as Rebekah groaned, "Oh _please_ tell me we will not be having another repeat of history. We certainly don't need you chasing after her as well Elijah."

Elijah quickly sought to explain, "No, nothing of the sort. Only that much like I have already informed Miss Forbes of, I drastically underestimated her strength and wisdom and that I hope to rectify the wrongs I have placed towards her in the future. She is a fine woman to be at your side Niklaus." He placed a gentle hand to Klaus's shoulder only to wince as it was shrugged off.

"While I understand Caroline's heart in this matter, that does not mean I agree." Klaus held his hand up to stop Elijah from speaking, "At this time. Perhaps sometime in the future, whether near or far, I will be ready. But for now," He sighed with his eyes slanted towards the direction Caroline had stormed off to, "For now it is my birthday and as such I would like to find my girl and salvage what is left of the evening." With a nod of his head at each of them he disappeared into the crowd.

The three Mikaelson's left standing all glanced at each other, some hopeful while others were unsure.

Kol snarled, his fist clenching as he fought down the emotions Caroline's speech had brought, "I don't care if it is childish. I want no part in this."

Rebekah watched sadly as he too stormed away.

Elijah sighed, "And then there were two. Unless you too will be leaving me in the dust."

Her watery eyes met his as she turned to face him, "Oh Elijah." She whispered at the regret and pain she found on his face. "We have survived worst together as a family; we will survive this as well."

"Does that mean you are willing to allow me back in?"

Her chin quivered and a single tear tracked down her plump cheek, "Always and forever."

He nodded his head, his voice filled with similar emotions as he echoed, "Always and forever."

They shared a small smile before she groaned, shaking the emotional outburst away as their years of running and fighting had taught them all to do, "Now, how about you get me a drink and we can catch up before you take me for a turn on the dance floor."

Elijah bowed low before her, "It would be my greatest honor sweet sister of mine."

.

.

.

Klaus followed the unique scent of Caroline to find her pacing the sidewalk outside in front of the club. A smirk formed over his lips at her surprised gasp at his presence while his eyes softened as she sheepishly bit her lower lip.

"Sorry about that back there." She tossed her thumb over her shoulder before folding her hand demurely down her middle, "I think I might have gone a teensy bit overboard and let my emotions get in the way."

"Well, perhaps only a smidge." Klaus pinched his fingers close together with his nose crinkling causing Caroline to giggle before promptly clapping a hand over her mouth as if she felt she was not allowed to laugh.

Klaus sighed with a shake of his head as he took the final steps towards her, pulling her hand off her lips as he uttered lowly, "As it is still my birthday I have a request that you do not hide yourself from me."

Her large blue eyes gazed up at him from beneath her thick black lashes, her genuine sorrow at the scene she caused pouring from them even before she spoke, "I'm sorry I had such a tantrum on your birthday. I promise if we go inside now I won't do another thing to ruin your day."

Klaus hummed, letting his gaze travel to the time on the watch, "I am quite sure that there is little you could do to ruin such a perfect day, but…" He let his voice tapper off with his eyes growing a shade darker as they skimmed over her glorious form.

Caroline's body began to shiver with a thrill of excitement at the lustful look in his eyes as he silently appraised her. She stood a touch taller, her head tilting to the side sending her golden curls down her back to feather against his hand that clutched her close, "But?"

His smirk deepened as he trailed his fingers down the zipper on the back of her dress, leaving no cause for questioning of just what he was speaking of, "It is my birthday after all and I do believe I was promise a very particular gift."

"What about your party?" She asked breathily, already sure what his answer would be even though he did not answer with words.

He took a step closer still, his thigh sliding between her legs to press against her rapidly warming core. He deliberately rolled his hips as his eyes captured hers with their lustful haze, sending shivers of delight across her skin as his thigh hit her just right and his hardened shaft pressed against her hip.

She slid her arms up his chest and over his shoulders to lock her hands firmly behind his neck, she delighted in his groan as she hummed, "Well then, what are you waiting for? It is your birthday after all."

Seeing the wicked smile take form on her lips, Klaus snarled as he lifted her from the ground. Once her legs were firmly laced around his hips they were gone as he flashed them at a speed even a vampire would have trouble keeping up with towards their waiting hotel room around the corner.

.

.

.

Caroline was still out of breath as she laid her sweaty head upon his chest a few hours later. She tried to hum in pleasure at his rapidly beating heart that proved she gave as good as she got but it came out as more of a croaking moan.

Klaus was faring little better as he tried to wrap his arm around her but with his energy nearly depleted his hand fell limply to her thigh that was draped across his lower abdomen.

The two laid in silence as they regained their bearings aft such a thoroughly outstanding round of love making. His fingers slowly making circles on her upper thigh as hers lazily trailed a nonsensical pattern over his chest.

Caroline's eyes traveled around the room and her teeth dug into her lip to hold back a grin at the state she found it in. The large heavy desk was now sitting sideways with deep gouges along it's top from her nails. The chair was toppled to its side with one leg complete broken off and the floor was littered with red scraps of fabric that once were joined to make her dress. She could only imagine the ideas the housekeepers would have once they came to clean the room.

She giggled pleasantly, "Once we leave this hotel, they are either going to think we are kinky as all hell or that you abuse me." tilting her head to glance up at Klaus who smiled in amusement at her humor.

His tongue swiped over his lips before a deep dimpled smile grew as he too took in the state of the room, "By the utterly ravished and satisfied look about you I am quite sure they will assume the former."

Caroline propped her body up with her elbow next to him on the bed, her wild hair forming a curtain around their heads as she cocked an eyebrow, "Oh? And what about you? What if they think that _you_ are the one that was utterly ravished?"

His eyes gleamed darkly, sending sparks through her entire body, "Of that I have no doubt my utterly lascivious Love."

His arms snaked around her midsection and in the blink of an eye he had her flipped onto her back with his lower half cradled between her sheet covered thighs. The excited squeal that left her was swallowed whole as his mouth crashed down to hers. She felt his hands gripping her thigh and the back of her neck as his lips and tongue ravished her mouth. She grunted in displeasure as the sheet got caught and twisted between them. Blindly she felt around for an edge, trying in vain to remove the offending piece of fabric so she could feel his heated skin against her.

Klaus suddenly detached his lips from hers, allowing his forehead to lay upon her breasts as he chuckled and stilled her seeking hand.

"As much as I loath to say it; I do need a little more time to recover Caroline."

From the corner of his eyes as he turned to lay his cheek to her breast he caught a beaming Cheshire cat grin light up her face. Feeling a bit mischievous at her blatant glee at having worn him out, he slowly slid his hand over her smooth stomach before giving her side a quick pinch.

"Hey!" Caroline laughed as she knocked his hand away. "What was that for?"

"It seems someone's ego needed to be brought back down to Earth." He teased with a cocky grin.

She grinned goofily in return with a shake of her head, "Nope. No way you can kill this high for me. I mean seriously, I just wore out the Original Hybrid himself. How many times in history has that happened?" She snickered before wincing, feeling a strange tickle in her throat, almost like she wanted to cry and rage all at once. "Never mind, don't answer that."

But of course, Klaus being, well _Klaus_ , he seen right through her.

In an instant, he had them both sitting up in bed on their sides facing each other. The way he gazed into her eyes left no room for even her most vicious insecurities to rear their ugly head and deny his next statement.

"I cannot claim to have lived a life of monkish behavior, any more so than you can yourself. What I can claim beyond a shadow of a doubt is that you, Caroline Forbes are the one and only person to ever, and I do stress the _ever_ , wear me out so thoroughly that I need time to recover." Worried that she was still not fully grasping how completely honest he was trying to be, he picked up her hand and held it tenderly to his still hammering heart, "You are the only woman that I have ever truly loved. The only woman I have ever willingly opened my heart to fully. I will admit that I fought it off a time or two, but I am completely and irrevocably yours. I always have been and I always will be."

He felt a wave of relief flow through him the moment she sighed and relaxed beside him. He smiled bashfully at her slightly quivering lip and glassy eyes, for once he was happy to see the tears forming within her shimmering depths. He knew they were not tears of sorrow but of complete joy.

A few of his words caught up with her, pulling a strangled gasp from her mouth as her eyes round and she blurted, "Wait a minute! Did you say _person_? Like in men and not just women?"

Klaus winced slightly at her high-pitched voice, unsure if she would be put off by such a revelation or just caught in a moment of shock. He carefully chose his words as he explained with a pinched look upon his face, "You will find that over time there are not many things you won't try once. That there isn't a form of debauchery that you aren't willing to give a go a time or two."

Caroline thought over just what he was trying to say. It did fill her with a little relief that he sounded as if it wasn't something he felt defined him, but more something that he had tried when the opportunity presented itself. And it wasn't like she hadn't seen a beautiful woman and admired her a time or two herself. A blush stole over her cheeks as she thought about the heavily dirty dancing she had done, okay fine, maybe an actual make-out session with some nameless hot girl at a club.

Klaus narrowed his eyes as her cheeks filled with a pink flush. He had an inkling where her mind had traveled. While most men salivated over seeing two women naked and writhing together, he had seen and participated in such events a time or two over the course of his life, and he in no way wished to see Caroline, _his_ Caroline with another.

"That being said; I do hope you have gotten any of those experiences out of your system. As I plan to spend the rest of forever with you by my side, you should know that I will not share what is _mine_."

For a split second, she thought about teasing him. But the pure possessive fire that blazed within his eyes, the slight shifting of his face to his hybrid form when he spoke the word _mine_ in a deep guttural growl stopped her.

It also reminded her of a certain topic she wanted to broach tonight.

She had been putting if off long enough. Yes, she had plenty of reasons of why she hadn't said anything yet. It wasn't like he would blame her, her Papa had just died and all. But she didn't want this secret hanging over their heads. She didn't want him figuring it out on his own only to find out she know all along. She wanted to face this head on, no matter how he might react.

She wiggled her fingers beneath his hand that still covered her against his chest, signaling for him to let go. She smiled softly as he lowered his hand only to placed it on her sheet covered hip. With a featherlight and delicate touch, she slowly glided her fingertips up his chest, over his collarbone to twirl his necklaces for a moment before cupping his cheek. Gazing into his eyes adoringly, her voice was as tender as her smile, "Niklaus Mikaelson, Original Hybrid, the immortal being for which true nightmares and terror are made of," She giggled lowly at the frown marring his handsome face at her description of his person, "You know you are capable of all that and some, so don't get all pouty on me."

"I do not pout." He huffed before pressing his lips tightly together.

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that."

"Would you care to continue on your tirade of what a horrible monster I am? Such a lovely way to spend the end of my own birthday." He snipped causing Caroline to choke down her laughter and hold tight against the eyeroll threating to form at how much he was so _not_ pouting.

Caroline instead shifted slightly on the bed, causing the sheet to fall from her breasts and pool just beneath her belly button. She grinned covertly as his frown fell from his face and his eyes were drawn to her creamy white breasts with their dusty rose tips. "It has been a happy birthday and you know it, _My Love_."

Klaus felt his breath hitch, his eyes flying back to her lovely face as her husky emotion filled voice called him his favored pet name for her. He never failed to marvel at how with only a few simple spoken words she could render him complete speechless. So filled with unbelievable awe that this stunning creature whom laid bare before him was not only _his_ , his to love and cherish, but that by some whim of the Gods she had also laid claim to him just the same.

"You know you are all those things to others," She continued gently as his eyes sparkled and shined in that absolute wonder that she adored so much, "But to me, you are so much more Klaus. This here," She whispered as she traced her finger below his eye, "The way you look at me, like you can't believe I am here and I am yours. The way you can show me everything that is inside your heart and soul with just a single look. The way your breath never fails to catch anytime I tell you that I love you." She smiled affectionately as he did just that while her fingers traced over his lips. "The way that no matter what has happened, what mistakes we have made or what obstacles life has thrown our way so far, you never fail to come back and try again. Even when I tried so hard to push you away, to keep you from gaining my heart completely, you never left. And you wouldn't let me leave, even when I was downright nasty to you. You are the only person I will ever want to be with. Forever. No matter what."

Caroline swallowed harshly past the lump in her throat. "I…I have to tell you something. Something my Papa told me before he died." She was terrified, so unbelievable terrified, at what his reaction would be. Klaus Mikaelson prided himself on always being one step ahead of everyone and everything. What would he do when he found out that Fate had played a role in them being together? How would he feel? Would he be happy, elated even? Or would rage and bellow before storming out the door?

Klaus inches closer to her, worried over her sudden shift in mood, "What's the matter Caroline?" He did not want to jump to conclusions but the last time her Father had something to tell her, she had nearly lost her life for good.

Feeling his body stiffen, locking down in preparation for what she was sure he assumed to be unwelcome news, she rushed to sooth him, stumbling and rambling in attempts to explain it all to him, "It's nothing bad. I mean, at least I don't see it as a bad thing. It's just that I don't know how you are going to take it and I've been holding onto this for too long now. Not that I have been keeping it from you. It's just there has been so much other stuff going on that I really didn't have a chance to process it let alone come up with a way to tell you." She huffed in aggravation at herself, "Not that I am doing a great job at telling you now or anything, I just don't know how you are going to react and I don't even really know what it means for us and," Caroline paused to take in the look on his face. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pushed tightly together reminding him of a menacing kitten which only caused him to choke down a laugh by pressing his lips together even harder. Her voice was deadly as she asked, "Are you laughing at me?"

Klaus lessened the pressure of his lips to reply, but found that was not a clever move since, even with his years of perfecting his poker face, when it came to an adorably rambling and angry Caroline he was little better than a lad still wet behind the ears. Watching her bristle further as he was reduced to clamping his lips shut once more and shaking his head after a choking rumble of laughter left his mouth.

"Oh my God! You _are_! You're laughing at me!" Her upper lip curled as she snarled, her fingertips curving against his chest as if she would sprout claws at any moment.

And that was when he could withhold his humor no longer. He couldn't calm even when his first puff of laughter hit her square in the face causing her to flinch. Oh no, all it did when she leveled him yet again with that livid glare was remind him of how sweetly adorable she looked in her fury.

He had no idea what had come over him to laugh so throatily when he knew it was only angering her further. What was it Elijah always said? _Never laugh in the face of a true Lady, for you will be the one to feel the sting in the end._

And feel the sting he did.

Caroline didn't know what was happening to her. Normal she could laugh off her own ramblings, especially with Klaus. But right now, with him laughing it up like she was a damn stand-up comedian, when here she was trying to tell him something super important and possibly life changing she felt an anger like she had never felt before boil and blaze through her until she snapped.

Darkened red and black veins slithered down her cheeks, a set of double fangs broke free from her gums, dripping with venom. Her pupils dilated as her irises changed from their lovely shade of blue to a deep and deadly golden hue. An enraged snarl tore past her lips and she flashed on top of him, pinning him to the bed with a strength she never knew she could possess as dangerously sharpened claws grew from her fingertips, embedding into his skin.

Klaus's laughter turned to a hiss of pain at the sting of her claws. Though the pain was left to a minor discomfort in the back of his mind as he gazed up at Caroline's snarling face. She was a vision. An absolute, breathtaking vision. Her deadly yet stunningly beautiful face was the perfect blend of what he imagined a child of an Angel and a Devil would be. Exquisitely gorgeous in all her deadly fury. He had no idea she could become any lovelier than he already knew her to be.

And then she spoke.

The crisp lisp of her haunting and enraged voice flowed through her descended double fangs sending an electric jolt straight down to his groin.

"Excuse me for trying to find the right way to tell you what my Father told me. For trying to figure out a delicate way to tell you that we happen to be Mates God damnit! For being so afraid that you would get pissed off and storm out of here thinking I am only with you because of some fucking Mate bond or whatever." A growl vibrated out of her chest as he went to speak, her thick razor-sharp claws digging deeper, forcing his wounds to stay open as his blood beginning to seep out from around them. "But oh no! _My_ Mate seems to think that laughing at me like I am some comedic genius is the way to go. Well you know what?" She hissed as she leaned down closer to him, "You can just fuck right the hell off you raging asshat!"

Klaus grunted as she unfurled her claws from her chest, the pain only temporary as his wounds healed instantly over. It was only when he realized that she was swinging her leg over his body to leave the bed that he jumped into action. As quick as a flash he had her thrashing body pinned beneath him as he tried to calm her with soothing words and soft touches while she continued to snarl and snap her vicious set of fangs at him.

"Shh My love. It's alright. It's only me. I'm sorry that I upset you. You know I would never intentionally hurt you in any way. I love you my darling Caroline." Even as her chest continued to heave, her thrashing and snarling began to wane. Knowing that he was getting through to her, he began placing tender kisses upon her brow, "You are my heart." A kiss to her cheek, "You are my soul." A kiss below each of her eyes, "You are my very life and reason for being." A kiss to her temple with an impassionate whisper, "I know My Love, _My Mate_. I know."

He held her closely as her breathing eventually calmed and her rapidly beating heart slowed to its new steady pace that matched his own. It wasn't until he felt a drop of wetness slide down the side of his face resting against hers that he pulled back to look at her. Gone was the raging angel of death, in her place was a beautifully broken looking woman with her chin and lips quivering as tears pooled and dripped from her blue eyes.

"I…I'm so sorry." She hickuped, her eyes watching as her shaking fingers traced the drying blood on his chest.

Klaus lovingly brushed a fallen curl off her forehead, "Shh, it's fine Caroline. _I_ am fine." Lifting her chin, he forced her to look him in the eyes, "Everything is…"

"Don't you dare say the word _fine_ again. Nothing is fine! I don't even know what that was." Her voice cracked, "I just…I mean all of a sudden I just…"

"Snapped." He gently filled in for her.

"Yeah." She barely whispered, "I just don't know where it came from."

"I do." He told her sagely, capturing her full attention. Knowing that she was no longer going to bolt from the bed he carefully laid beside her, turning her pliant form back to the way they were before things had going astray. "That would be your werewolf urges, come to rear their sometimes-ugly head." At her crestfallen face, he placed his index finger beneath her chin, lifting it once again to face him as he spoke passionately, "Perhaps ugly is the wrong word, for I have never felt as turned on and completely entranced as I was just now watching you in your glorious anger."

"My God! What is wrong with you? Are you insane?!" Her eyes widened in shock before closing tightly as she whispered, "I _hurt_ you."

"A little pain with pleasure can be an extraordinary thing," He attempted to lighten the mood but backtracked under her unamused glare, "but we can visit that some other time. For now, you need only understand that what you felt, the out of your mind and out of your control rage, is completely natural for a newly turned werewolf. Or hybrid in our case."

"Great, so this is just yet another thing I am going to have to learn how to control?" She grumbled disparagingly.

"Yes, but with your unique abilities and unwavering need for absolute control, along with my help in the matter," He added with a cocky self-assured smirk, "I am sure you will have it conquered in no time."

"Well yippy-skippy for me." She muttered before gasping, "Wait. You said you know. When I was all growly and snappy you called me your Mate. What do you mean…how do you _know_?"

With a low chuckle, he grinned with his full dimples on display, "You didn't really think that after all those centuries of searching for a way to break my curse and free my wolf that I wouldn't have sought out any and all information about werewolves in general, did you?"

"No, I guess not." She mumbled sheepishly, tracing her finger over his chest, "Why didn't you say anything to me?"

Klaus arched a brow at her, "Really Caroline? Why is it you did not tell me?"

Caroline exhaled loudly, "Right. We had enough going on." They sat in silence for a few moments until she realized Klaus was waiting on her to speak, "So my Papa said Mates were rare."

"Yes, he was correct. I discovered as much myself." Klaus replied slowly, wondering what else Silas had told her during their very brief encounters.

"He also said that when two wolves were mated it was because they were both the strongest of the bloodlines. It was Nature's way of keep the balance of powers or whatnot from shifting too far one way or the other. Allowing those who were Mated to only able to carry on their bloodlines with each other." The way she stressed each word carefully and articulately left little to the imagination to just what she was referring to.

"That is true as well, among many other things." He gulped the sudden flash of that fancifully daydream he had of her that seemed like so long ago now. Of when she had been fast asleep in his bed with him watching over her thinking how things would have been if she had been alive during his human years. Of them marrying and settling into a life together, then later watching as she began rounding with his child nestled safely within her womb. "I cannot assume that that particular facet applies to us any long. Our hearts may beat a stronger tune than those of a vampire's Caroline, but they still only pump borrowed blood."

Caroline smiled warmly as she shook her head and waved her hand, "I appreciate your concern there Klaus, but let's slow the horses' _way_ down here. I am in no way getting all googly eyed over having some babies. I knew that ship had sailed _long_ ago, longer than you might even realize," She added the last part so softly that his eyes narrowed at just what she meant by that. Shaking her head, she huffed, "but that is totally not the point or the topic for now. I only brought it up because it was something that my Papa told me. I didn't really have a lot of time for questions." She noticed the relief and yet the tiny hint of disappointment in his eyes. Whether it was disappointment over her brushing off the topic or that she didn't want to talk about something and that drove him to only want to ask more, she didn't know nor did she want to know right now, "What I really want to know is just when did you figure out it was me? That I was your Mate?"

Klaus followed her lead and let the topic slide for the time being, it truly wasn't a subject he cared to visit now either, as he hummed in thought, "I'd have to say that I always knew at some level from the first moment I saw you." He scoffed as he recalled just when that was, "I was in that blasted history teacher's body, you were at the decade dance dressed as whom I assume to be Jackie O?" Once he received her nod he continued as began fiddling his fingers in and around hers on the bed between them, "I felt this unusual pull towards you, however muted it was. I brushed it off as a passing fancy at the time. I reckoned it was merely your exquisite beauty that drew me in. I always did have an eye for the lovely ladies." He waggled his brows and chuckled heartily at her indignant scoff and patented eyeroll. "It was only after I had broken my curse that that theory proved to be irrelevant. The pull to you was intense, stronger than I could even comprehend. I had to know for certain so I…"

"So you what?" She looked at him quizzically as she scooched closer to him, both wrapping an arm around the other's back. Her eyes were so wide and trusting that he found himself apprehensive to explain. He had no clue of just how she would react once she discovered the truth.

Klaus sighed, bracing himself for what was possibly to come. His fingertips tracing nonsensical patterns across the ridge of her spine, "I knew I would have a challenging time in finding you alone and willing to speak to me so I ah," He nervously cleared his throat, his eyes dancing around the space between them before landing back on hers, "concocted a plan to guarantee we would have time alone together."

Caroline furrowed her brows in thought as he patiently waited for her to figure it out. She thought over all the times they had been alone until it hit her hard enough that her body jolted backwards, her mouth falling open and her eyes widening as she whispered, "My birthday."

Klaus shifted uncomfortably beneath her stare, his gaze flicking from her face to around the room as if he feared what or how she would react.

Reading just how worried he was over her reaction, she relaxed her body and slid closer to him, her fingers picking back up where they left off as they swirled over the skin of his lower back. When she was able to recapture his gaze she smirked teasingly, "So, you needed my Mother's support huh?"

Klaus coughed and cleared his throat, rolling his eyes and joining in with her laughter before rolling them over so he hovered above her. Placing a single kiss on her nose he pulled back with a shrug of his shoulders and a happy smile upon his lips, "Semantics. It gained me access to you and the solid proof that I needed. That somehow, you were indeed my Mate just as I was yours."

Caroline's mind ventured back that fateful night. The way he had talked to her, the way he looked at her and held her. Back then it had not made any sense to her. The only thing she had come up with was that he was setting her up to use her against her friends later. Now though, after all that she knew of him and all that they had been through she understood his actions differently. A sudden thought occurred to her as the memories faded and she focused her eyes back up to his blissful face, "What would you have done if I had chosen to die that night?"

A brief tremor of pain swept across his face before it smoothed out once again, "I honestly do not know. I remember waiting with bated breath, a war of hope and fear racing through my chest." A look of serious contemplation flickered in his eyes which he regretted instantly when he realized how closely she was watching him.

Caroline smoothed a hand over his face, whispering encouragingly, "Tell me. It's alright."

His tongue swiped over his lips, his voice holding such an oddly strained note that she couldn't quite place it as he explained, "I would like to believe that I would have coerced you with every weapon in my arsenal into believing that it was your choice and not mine at wanting to live. But the truth of the matter is, that even while I hoped you would chose life," He exhaled shakily, "I could not stop the near wish that you would chose death as your way out. Or more accurately put, as _my_ way out."

"What do you mean, your way out?" She asked without a hint of judgement which only pushed him further into his depths of despair and self-flagellation.

"I wanted you to live but just as equally I wish for you to not survive."

She kept her mind open as he paused to gauge her reaction, willing him to continue so she could understand what he meant. She mentally sighed in relief when it seemed he had found the will to keep going from the reassuring look on her face.

"If you had chosen death as your escape than the matter would have been out of my hands. No weakness to exploit by my enemies. No one left for me to care for only to leave me in the end. Yet if you had chosen to live, I was terrified of the risk you posed. You could be killed just for your association to me. You could have come to the day where you had tolerated me enough and turned against me as all before you have done." Caroline listened carefully as Klaus seemed to be on a roll now that the flood gates had been opened, "You could have used me for my power and I would have let you. With the way you all but caused my heart to pound from beneath my breast with but a single glance, how could I not? You would use my feelings for you, whatever they might be, for your own gain only to stomp on them just as my family has done for years." He whispered his next words shamefully as if he was still fearful of becoming the man he had always thought himself to be, "I would have broken you before allowing you the chance to do any of that. I would have turned you into something you are not and snuffed out your light to the point you would become nothing more than a shell of the girl you once were."

His eyes were unfocused as if he was lost within the darkest parts of his mind. Caroline counted to twenty, ready to snap him out of it but there was no need. His grief-stricken eyes focused back on her before she even opened her mouth. It was that one look from him that she wondered how she, or anyone else for that matter, could have ever thought him to not have a heart. This man felt things deeper than anyone had ever given him credit for, things that were nothing more than simple thoughts floating through his mind.

"All this floated through my head, warring within me for a fraction of the time while I awaited your answer. I hated myself for the relief I felt when you announced you didn't want to die. Hated myself because here I had already betrayed you within my own head. Wishing for you to choose death," He spat, "while feeding you fancy words to entice you to live."

That was when she realized just what that oddly strained note in his voice had been. Guilt. He felt so unbelievably guilty over things he had only thought about for a spilt second. She couldn't believe that sheer amount of pressure and pain this man put needlessly on himself. Here he was, looking down to her with almost pleading eyes, begging her to forgive him for even thinking such things.

She gripped the sides of his face, willing herself not to crumble at the riotous emotions that festered in his eyes, "Hey, it's okay. I get it. You wouldn't be, well _you_ , if you didn't think all the possibilities through. Not that I agree with them all the time, but that was a very Klaus-like thought process. There you were, freshly broken curse and all, yet you still had dangers and enemies lurking around. I was a weakness, a liability, that you weren't sure you could afford."

The guilt no longer festered but now fully reared its ugly head, burning though his body with a force that equaled a White Oak stake.

He pushed away from her harshly, sitting up to swing his legs off the side of the bed, his elbows pressed into his knees as he hung his head in shame, "To think of all I could have lost that night. That I was willing to let you perish, even if it was only for a spilt second of a thought." He turned his head to the side, his haunted eyes screaming at her to yell at him. To get angry and leave him like he felt he deserved, "How can you be so caviler about this? How can you not scream and rave about what a monster I am. That I was willing to allow my own _Mate_ to die just so save myself from some ill-conceived weakness I so wrongly assumed you to be?"

Caroline sat up and crawled over the rumbled sheets, embracing him from behind with one arm sliding across his chest while the other wrapped around his abdomen as she pressed her naked body tightly against his back.

Klaus gripped her arms tightly against him, as if afraid she would change her mind and follow through with what he believed to be righteous anger on her part. "Haven't we covered already that these what-ifs don't do us any favors?" She sighed at his noncommittal grunt, "Okay how about this, look at how long I fought against us. How about the fact that my first though, my very first thought when my Papa clued me in on this Mate business was the fear that you only cared for me because of the mating bond and that I only cared for you because fate decreed it so."

Klaus turned and looked at her, searching her face, "Is that true? You really felt that way?"

She bit back a groan at the sadness now covering his face as she explained it wrong, "No and that's my point! It was this tiny minuscule second of a thought. Something that didn't even stick around for long enough to even be considered a real feeling. That we only had our connection because something else out there said so and not because of what we really wanted. But then it was gone as quick as it came and really, I only kept my mouth shut about all this because well for one, there was way too much other crap going on and two I was afraid that _you_ would feel that way. That you would think I was only here with you because of the Mate junk and not because I love you."

"I know that is not true Caroline." He said flatly before finally beginning to regain his senses, "In all my research, I have come across only a few mated pairs, they are extremely rare and only form between two connecting spirits, soulmate I believe this generation has the dastardly way of putting it."

"So do you see now? My fears, your fears. My darker thoughts and yours, they don't really mean anything. They are just that; thoughts."

Klaus huffed before lowering his head and glancing up at her in a bashful wonder, "Just how is it that you can understand and show me things that I have never thought of?"

"Well honestly? I think it's just that you family is so royally screwed up that you all hold onto the smallest things while letting the biggest ones go." She tilted her head to the side with a silly grin, "That's really asshat backwards you know that?"

"Well that's why we need you in our lives Caroline." He said with a smile feeling the last of his unneeded stress leave him.

She sat up straight with a firm nod of her head, "Damn skippy."

They both broken into a fit of laughter, which after such an intense roller coaster of emotions, felt like the perfect release in Caroline's opinion.

Though it seemed Klaus had another form of release on his mind.

With a playful growl, he scooped her up around her waist and placed her onto his waiting lap. His lips began laying open mouthed kisses along her neck and shoulders before she suddenly pulled back.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, clapping in excitement as she hopped off his lap and dashed across the room, "I forgot! You have one present left."

Klaus leaned his head sideways, licking his lips as he watched delightedly as she bent over to rifle through her bag leaving him with a most delicious view of her pink core and rounded backside, "I think you and what we were about to do is more than enough, Love."

Caroline tossed her head to the side with a sultry smirk before purposefully taking her time as she straightened herself back up and slowly walked back to him, "I like the flattery but still, this one means something and…"

Klaus watched on in fascination as she blushed from her cheeks down to the tops of her breasts. _Was she nervous?_ _How utterly enthralling._ It made his stomach bubble in excitement at what she had gotten for him that would put her in such a fluster.

She crawled onto the bed sitting crossed legged beside him. "Here." She handed him a small velvet satchel, her lower lip caught between her teeth.

The small satchel felt light within his palm and as he moved to loosen the strings holding it closed he heard a faint clink of metal hitting together. With his curiosity peaked he turned it upside down, spilling the contents into his palm.

Two matching necklaces, both with dark braided leather cords and both held a silver metal ring roughly the size of a coin sat innocently in his hands. The craftsmanship of the braided leather was superb. The technique sparked memories of his childhood when his Mother had sat each of them down to learn how to craft the tools and supplies they would need to survive.

"I um, braided them myself."

Klaus shot his head up at her quiet hesitant voice to see her nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Keeping his voice just as low, "They are true remarkable Caroline."

Caroline smiled shyly at his compliment, "Thanks. I was sitting on the beach one day, the day you were off looking to secure us a boat for the evening. I was trying to think of what I could get you for your birthday when out of nowhere I remembered something from my past."

"What did you remember?" Klaus asked quietly, not wanting to break the suddenly tender and reminiscent glaze her features had taken.

"One of the coven members, I can't remember her name, she taught me how to do that." She pointed towards the necklaces in his hand, "I'm sure it was just to keep me occupied while my Papa was busy but she said I took to it like a natural." She blue eyes shined with pride as she smiled, "She said I was doing so well that I would have no trouble at all when it came time for me to make them for my chosen one."

Klaus nodded in understanding, "We had a similar custom in my human years as well. The men would often do things for the woman they were courting. Outside of the typical gifts of flowers or meats from their latest kills, they would complete the more difficult chores or tasks to show their worth as a mate. While the women often crafted things here and there for those they allowed to court them. Foods that would keep during a few days hunt, straps and satchels for bows and arrows."

Caroline nodded with a soft conspiring grin, "And things they could wear as a token of their love. To show the rest of the village that their courting was something more than just a passing fancy."

"Aye." Klaus whispered as the true meaning behind her gift set in.

"It's nice to know that even with all the years between us, me being born a thousand years before you, you having to wait another thousand for me to wake up. We still have a few things from those hazy human days that link us together."

The truth of her words sank deep within his core. He had not given much thought to the simpler lifestyle that she too had originally came from. They had yet to speak of his own human days at any length, and he was hesitant to bring up her own due to the short and painful time it had been for her. Perhaps too, was the fact that he had always seen himself as one of the oldest creatures to ever walk the face of the Earth. Yet here before him was his love, his Mate, who, even though technically she had only been awake for merely eighteen years, was a thousand years older than even him and his family.

The sheer concept of the time that stretched between them and them finding each other was dizzying even for a keen mind like his own. Yet resting within his palms was a symbolic tradition that spanned time itself.

Caroline giggled lightly, understanding just what he was thinking of and how crazy it all seemed. Her eyes smiled as she nodded towards his hand, "Take a closer look."

Klaus turned his head questioningly before focusing on the necklaces intently, or more importantly, the metal rings he had not inspected as of yet. At first glance they both look similar, until he began to notice the two had slightly different hues to their colorings. When turned under the light one held a darker grey sheen to it while the other shined brightly. Flipping them over to his other hand he found they both held completely different etchings within the metal faces.

Gasping quietly Klaus looked to Caroline as he discovered what the symbols on each said and meant.

Caroline smiled as she shifted closer to him, plucking the brighter of the two necklaces out of his hand and began placing it around his neck as she spoke tenderly, "I'm sure you figured it out, but this one has our names etched in Aramaic, my native tongue, and has the symbol for, _everlasting light,_ as well."

She ran her fingers over the necklace that now sat proudly around his neck before turning to her side and lifting her hair out of the way. "That one," She nodded to the remaining darker hued necklace, snapping him out of his comforting daze, "has our names etched in your native tongue and has the symbol for, _everlasting darkness_ , on it instead."

Her eyes slid closed as his shaky fingers sent shivers across her skin as he placed the necklace so reverently around her neck. Letting her hair fall back into place, she turned to face him with his hands gliding down her body to her hips. She let her hands slowly trail up his arms to wrap around his neck as she slid onto his lap as she spoke, "Yours has a piece of me as mine has a piece of you." She still felt a hint of the worry that set in when she had decided which symbols to place upon them, she wanted to leave no room for him to question her choice. "You claim to be full of darkness while saying I am full of light. But Klaus, you cannot have one without the other."

His lips trembled as they parted letting only his warm shaky breath ghost over her rosy cheeks. He could feel the soft weight of her necklace resting against the center of his chest as his eyes stared at the darker metal of his laying in the exact same place between her lovely breasts.

Slowly he glided his hands to the center of her back, pulling her closer to gently force her to arch her body. With his eyes trained on the metal ring, he lowered his head to place a soft kiss to the place where it laid.

Her fingers combed through his hair as her breath caught at his tender affection. Picking his head up from her chest, he glanced up at her to find a similar heat beginning to grow within her glittering eyes.

Together they shifted their bodies to the center of the bed as if they were of one mind and thought. Their eyes locking as he knelt on the mattress with Caroline climbing up against him. He looped his arms under her legs letting the back of her knees rest in the crook of his elbows as his hands slid down to her plump backside, lifting her up to slowly drop her onto his eagerly waiting shaft.

Caroline tossed her head back, her fingers linking behind his neck as his ridged shaft glided deeply within her throbbing depth.

She felt his hot wet tongue slid between her breasts making her inner walls pulse. Tossing her head back up to face him she moaned at the pure lust she found in his waiting eyes. Her mouth fell open with a keening groan as he slowly thrusted his hips up as his arms allowed her weight to fall.

Her body arched over his, lowering her head to rest on the top of his as he controlled their every move. Their grunts and groans of pleasure resounded throughout the room as her nails grappled for purchase on his neck and shoulders.

Klaus's mouth dropped open with a low groan as he watched in glorious awe as she twisted and swiveled her hips, trying to gain some semblance of control in the position he held her in as he worked them closer to the brink of ecstasy.

Caroline's wish was soon granted when he felt the need to hold her closer still, to feel her breasts and hardened peaks rasp against his heaving chest. On his next downward drop of her body he slid his arms from under her legs, wrapping them tightly around her back as she let her legs kneel next to him, all the while never stopping the slow deep thrusts inside her.

Caroline moaned long and deep as she felt more of his skin slide against her quickly trembling body.

Klaus raced his hand up to her neck, pulling her in for a searing kiss as their movements quickened, pushing their bodies over the edge to dive head first into a long luxurious pool of ecstasy. Her core quivered around his pulsating shaft, prolonging their mutual release as their fingertips scraped and dug into every inch they could find of the other until the tremors subsided and their lips broke apart.

They stayed locked in their embrace as pleasure filled eyes staring into pleasure filled eyes. Their pounding heart beating together as one.

Caroline eyed him pointedly as she clenched her walls around his shaft sending a jolt of renewed want and need through his sweating body. Feeling his shaft begin to take on life once more, she licked her lips before hoarsely whispering, "More."

She gave him no time to react before she began swirling her hips, bringing his sensitive member to its full hardened length.

Klaus watched her in all her glory as she rocked them closer to yet another desirous end. A litany of, "Yes. Gods yes Caroline." in nearly every language he knew poured from his lips as he gently held on as her hips did all the work.

Her pace quickened, his voice deepened to nothing more than a guttural growl as she screeched his name as their bodies exploded yet again.

She let her body fall backwards to the bed, pulling him down with her as his shaft continued the throb deliciously within her core.

With her sultry blue eyes dancing she grinned wickedly up at him as she settled against the mattress while demanding, "Again."

His eyes flashed yellow as he gave in with a rumbling growl, attaching his lips to her pebbled nipple as his shaft flared to life once more.

They couldn't stop. Some primal need had overtaken them, filling them with the desire to be as close as possible while gaining as much pleasure as they could handle. For the remainder of the night, and well into the morning, sounds of hoarse cries of desire and shouts of pleasure echoed from within their room as the walls shook around them.

.

.

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* * *

Ring a ding dink! What did you think?

I know that was a lot of twists and turns. I hope it wasn't too much for one chapter. If you have a few seconds drop me a review. I love you all so so much! Seriously, thanks for sticking with me and my hectic schedule.

PS: coming up on July 14th, 15th and 16th over on tumblr is the Klaroline Mashup Event. For more info head over to tumblr and search klarolinemashup. If you have any trouble finding the page shoot me a message and I will send you the link! For those of you who are just here for the reading and do not want to miss any of the Klaroline goodies that are created but do not want to join tumblr (you should it's super awesome) you can still go to the tumblr page for all the event postings and I will also be posting on here my personal contributions in Songs Of The Moment.


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline smiled sleepily against her pillow as a scruffy cheek nuzzled against the side of her face. Soft lips brushed a kiss with a whispered request to call him later before the door to their hotel room quietly clicked shut leaving her to lull in that comfortable peaceful place somewhere between still sleeping and not quite awake. Her blissful haze was rudely broken, groaning she burrowed deeper into the thick blankets as she tried to ignore her phone chiming repeatedly.

She did not want to get up and deal with this day. Late into the night, or really, early this morning, she and Klaus had begun to discuss what their next move would be. Mystic Falls just didn't feel like home anymore. It didn't feel like where she belonged anymore. Not that she had any idea where that elusive place was. She only knew that wherever it was, Klaus was there. Every now and then it felt so odd, so strange to think that Klaus of all people had become her home. All the fighting, all the distractions, all the chasing by him and pretending she didn't like it had led her to the one place she felt safe and cherished. In the arms the the biggest bad she ever knew.

Her soft lazy smile quickly turned to a frown as her phone continued its incessant chiming.

Snaking her hand out of her cocoon with a huff, she grabbed her phone off the nightstand, swiping the notification that told her she had fifteen unread messages.

 _[Kol 9:23 A.M] Caaaarrrroooolllliiiinnneeeee_

 _[Kol 9:24 A.M] Are you awake?_

 _[Kol 9:26 AM] To quote your lovely self…_

 _[Kol 9:26 AM] SERIOUSLY!?_

 _[Kol 9:27 AM] GET_

 _[Kol 9:27 AM] OUT_

 _[Kol 9:27 AM] OF BED!_

 _[Kol 9:28 AM] Alrighty then Darling, you asked for it…_

 _[Kol 9:28 AM] Get off of my brother._

 _[Kol 9:29 AM] GIF Sent-Dancing Salami._

 _[Kol 9:29 AM] Quit playing hide the salami with my brother and get down to the club._

 _[Kol 9:31 AM] GIF Sent-Dancing Pickle._

 _[Kol 9:31 AM] Stop playing tickle the pickle and get over here!_

 _[Kol 9:32 AM] Photo Sent-Muzzled Husky._

 _[Kol 9:32 AM] See above picture. Stick a muzzle on him, invest in a shock collar, chain him to a damn tree and GET DOWN HERE ALREADY!_

Squinting at her phone she typed back a quick reply.

 _[Caroline 9:33 AM] Stop blowing up my phone. Your brother isn't even here you jerk. Give me a half hour to shower and get dressed and I'll be there._

 _[Kol 9:33 AM] Are you texting me while you're naked? Isn't that what they call sexting now a days? Should you really be doing that you cheeky minx? Why what would my dear brother say?_

Caroline huffed, blowing her hair from her face as she sat up in the bed.

 _[Caroline 9:34 AM] I'm pretty sure he'd have something say about you talking about me being naked while he ripped out your spleen._

 _[Kol 9:34 AM] Liver darling. Liver. He prefers the threat of ripping out livers._

 _[Caroline 9:35 AM] Does that even matter?!_

 _[Kol 9:35 AM] Of course it matters. If you're going to adlib threats for my brother you should at least get it correct._

 _[Caroline 9:36 AM] Ugh! Fine! I'm pretty sure that if he knew you were talking about me being naked he'd rip out your liver._

 _[Caroline 9:36 AM] There. Happy now?!_

 _[Kol 9:36 AM] Much better. Yes. Now get the smell of sex off your body and get down here!_

 _[Caroline 9:37 AM] You just don't know when to quit do you? Never mind. I'll be there soon._

 _[Kol 9:42 AM] You won't tell Nik about the naked sexting right?_

 _[Kol 9:43 AM] Not that I'm worried or anything._

 _[Kol 9:44 AM] Really. I'm not._

 _[Kol 9:52 AM] But you won't right? I'd quite like to keep my liver today. Regenerating a vital organ is a bitch and a half._

 _[Kol 9:58 AM] Caroline?_

 _[Kol 10:01 AM] I'm taking your silence as your way of saying, Of course I won't tell him Kol. Great! Thanks Darling! See you soon!_

Caroline giggled, shaking her head as the notifications came across her phone while she waited for the water to warm in the shower. Her mind working out all the ways she could torture Kol as he worried whether she would tell Klaus about his harmless messages.

XXX

"Eve!" Caroline smiled brightly at seeing the girl as she bounced into the backroom of the club that had been converted from a storage area into a little magic teaching workshop, rushing to give her a hug, "It's so good to see you! You look amazing and your hair! My gosh! I just love the curls."

Eve blushed under her bubbly praise. She had enjoyed the many phone calls and texts she had received from both Caroline and surprisingly Klaus while they had been away. Ever since that dark day of the battle they had both taken to making sure she was adjusting alright and doing whatever they could to help her. Though with only speaking through the phone she had forgotten how bright and full-on the blonde could be. Running her fingers through her long dark hair with the wide curls she just decided to try out this morning, "Thanks. I've thought about cutting it a few times but every time I do I just can't let myself."

"Well it's lovely like this." Caroline squealed in excitement as an idea came to her, "There's this hair style I've been wanting to try but it's so hard to get the right feel for it when I do it on myself. Maybe I can try it on you later?" Withdrawing her phone, she clicked open the video to show the young girl.

Kol threw his head back with a groan, "Yes. Yes. You both have gorgeous hair, but can we get back to the real reason as to why we are here? Magic lessons? Ring a bell to anyone?"

Caroline pouted her lips with a slight mischievous glint in her eyes, "What's the matter Kol? Do you want to finish up here, so you can get some drinking in before your liver is removed?"

She batted her eyelashes innocently at his muffled snarl before pressing her lips in a frown. Normally he would fire back with some inane quip which lead to them verbally sparing, something she had grown to enjoy in their odd brother-sister-friendship, "What's wrong Kol? I know all this weird tension you have going on isn't about our text messages or all the girly excitement over hair."

"Perhaps I'd just like to get on with the magic lessons before my tyrant of a brother swoops in acting like he knows more about the stuff than I do." Kol moved some things around on the table, prepping the area for the start of Caroline's lessons, "Pretentious one he is. Always assuming he knows more than anyone else."

"He went to Mystic Falls to oversee the movers and have a meeting with Elijah." Caroline said slowly, trying to figure out what was so off about Kol's mood.

"Wonderful! Any ideas as to where we are off to this time? Somewhere sunny perhaps? With scantily clad co-ed's prancing about in bikinis?"

"We haven't decided yet actually." Frowning slightly, while his choice of words sounded very Kol-like it was the way he said them, almost with too much enthusiasm, that had her crossing her arms with a demanding tone, "I know where we of going is not what's bothering you, so spill."

"He saw Bonnie kissing some guy in front of the Grill this morning." Eve muttered from beside her when Kol stayed silent.

"Traitor." Kol snarled over his shoulder.

Caroline winced when she saw the flash of pain Kol tried valiantly to hide, "I'm sorry Kol. I know you had a thing for Bonnie…"

Kol's scoff cut her off, "Maybe it wasn't her that has me upset. Maybe it's the fact that baby Gilbert is alive and roaming around freely after he killed me. Lest you forget that little piece of history."

Caroline marched over to him, his brown eyes rounding as she placed a hand to his shoulder with an affectionate squeeze, "Don't do that Kol. Don't act all devil-may-care about your feelings. Not with me. I know you care for her, but Jeremy is her first love and after losing him the way she did she needs this time to sort all her feelings for him out. They weren't exactly in a good place when he died, and I think she needs to see what it all means now that he's back."

It amazed her to see the most untamed and chaotic of the Mikaelson siblings crumble into an insecure and downright lost little boy right before her eyes.

"You got over your Tyler phase rather quickly and he was your first love." Kol groaned in exasperation at his own feelings, running his fingers through his thick hair, "I've never felt this way about a girl before. I have been perfectly happy running amuck and enjoying whatever fruits came my way. Then in walks this goddess of a young witch who no matter how hard I would try would not fall under my charms and now I don't know what the bloody hell to do."

His brown eyes stared at her with so much depth and confusion, she knew he was waiting for her to say something that would offer him some sort of hope, she hesitated, not sure that she could. "I can't say what Bonnie thinks or feels but what I can tell you is from my own experience. I had to see things through with Tyler until the very end, even when I felt him slipping away from me, or I would have had regrets later. And while I pushed your brother away every chance I got during it all, it was nice, you know? Having this guy who seen me for who I was and was just there. Not pushing me into something I wasn't ready for but always there just on the edges of everything. Making me see things for myself instead of seeing things the way he wanted me to. I guess what I'm saying Kol is that you need to keep being her friend. Be there for her no matter what the outcome might be."

Kol tossed his head back with a groan, "Can't I just kill the boy and be done with it?"

"No." Caroline bit back a laugh at his antics, "You know that will only drive her away. I can't promise you anything here, and I really don't want to get your hopes up, but I can say that Bonnie did enjoy having you to talk to about all the magic stuff. She never had that before. I don't know if you two will ever have anything more than a friendship, but a friendship is a great place to start." She gave him a shove with a stern teasing smile, "So stop ignoring her calls."

A large grin split his face, giving him a boyish charm, "She told you she's been trying to call me?" Hope and excitement filled him at the realization that Bonnie had been gossiping with Caroline about him before his face fell into a hard mask at the cheeky grin she was aiming his way. "If you tell a soul about this…" He trailed off as his mind scrambled to think of a way he could get back at her without damaging himself in the end.

"Can't think of anything worth it enough to risk your brother's wrath?" Caroline teased before relenting, "Don't worry. Not a peep from me."

"Right then. Enough of this girly gossip," Kol made a face like he would vomit, turning on his heels to the table set up with various materials, spin back to her with a feather in his palm and a deadly yet excited glint in his eyes, "Time to float some feathers, darling!"

Caroline slammed her hands against the table, causing its contents to rattle and shake, "Why is this so fucking hard!"

"Maybe you're not giving it your all." Kol narrowed his eyes harshly, "We've been at this for nearly three hours Caroline and you've yet to do more than make the damn feather spin the table."

"You don't need to be such an ass. God!" She harshly yanked her fingers through her hair, "Is that a Mikaelson trait or something? People don't do what you want so you treat them like crap!"

"I refuse to handle you with kid gloves like my brother. You may have him wrapped around your dainty finger, but you don't me. You have all this power locked up inside you and can't even tap into it! It's a bloody waste!" Kol stomped next to her slamming a book closed, "If you can't lift a simple feather I don't know why I should bother teaching you. Perhaps this is why you and Nik are so well suited for each other. You both have all this power and yet you don't even use it. It's a wonder why he ever bothered breaking his curse! The sap hasn't even shifted since."

"Maybe it's your _teaching_ that's the real problem here." Caroline scoffed.

"I've taught witches how to hone their magic when I didn't even have access to my own. I think the _real_ problem here is that you just can't do it."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do." Caroline hisses through her teeth, her fists clenched tightly at her sides as she vibrated in rage wanting nothing more than to lash out at him as he cracked a smirk. "What? Am I entertaining you? You think this is funny?"

Kol grinned widely, pointing over her shoulder to the table behind her, "Look."

Caroline turned with a gasp at the feather she had been concentrating on for the past few hours floated eye level with her before slowly drifting back to the table. Wide eyed she looked to him with a stunned gasp, "Did you do that?"

"No. _You_ did."

"But…how? I wasn't even trying."

Kol hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe that is the key. You've been spending all this time focusing so hard that you aren't just letting yourself _feel_." At her confused glance he explained, "Magic isn't just about order and focus. It's also about emotions and feelings, being attune with yourself and all that's around you. Try again."

Caroline closed her eyes, inhaling deeply before eyeing the feather calmly as she outstretched her hand. This time instead of trying to force the feather to move, she focused on how it would feel in her hands, how the air would move around it. Amazingly it began to lift off the table, slowly floating up to her eye level once again until she began jumping and shrieking in excitement sending it back down to the table.

"Oh my God! I did it! I actually did it!" She cried out with joy, throwing her arms around Kol's neck with so much enthusiasm they fell into the table knocking a few things to the floor. "I don't really care for your tough love approach, but I did it!"

Kol chuckled at her elated beaming face as she pulled away from him, "You did well darling, for a beginner."

"Hey!" She jokingly punched his shoulder, "No killing my buzz. Besides, pretty soon I'll be more powerful than you so you better watch it."

"Really?" Kol quirked a bow with a wave of his hand sending the pile of feather on the table dancing through the air around them.

Caroline deflated a little, begrudgingly admitting with the smile still firmly locked on her face, "Okay fine. I'm a beginner. But still! Everyone has to start somewhere!"

Eve shook her head fondly at the two as they laughed. Setting aside the book she had been studying to bend down and pick up the items that had fallen in Caroline's excitement over her accomplishment. After placing the jars that had thankfully not broke to the table she glanced around searching for anything that she might have missed. Spying a small stone, its dark swirling colors blending in with the carpet, she knelt down further to reach under the table to grab it.

The moment the stone was clasped within her hand she gasped, her vision going blurry and Caroline's questioning voice fading into the background.

"Eve?" Caroline rushed around the table to find the young girl's eyes, with her pupils blown so wide they looked pure black, staring at nothing, her mouth open with a soundless scream of horror. "Oh my God, Eve! Kol!"

Kol flashed to their side as Caroline held the young girl's head in her lap trying fruitlessly to wake her. His eyes rapidly scanned her, trying to figure out what had happened before he saw a bit of stone peeking out from her clenched fist.

"Shit."

"What? What's wrong with her?" Caroline asked as she tried to sooth the trembling girl by rubbing her head.

"Arfvedsonite."

"I don't think making weird animal noises is helping." Caroline scolded as Eve began thrashing.

"It's not a sound, it's the name of the stone she's holding. It's a highly powerful stone that just happens to promote visions of the near future." His forehead wrinkled as he studied the thrashing girl, "She must be caught in a vision. Don't worry, it won't harm her and thankfully as powerful as the stone may be, it's effects don't last very long."

As if to echo his assurance, Eve's body went limp as she gasped blinking her eyes until they were back to normal. Kol narrowed his eyes as the stone fell from her grasp, plucking it up and turning its now colorless form in his hand. Whatever the girl had seen must have been something indeed. In all his years he had never seen the stone lose its color like this before.

"Eve, sweetie, are you okay?" Caroline softly asked the still trembling girl.

"Darkness. So much darkness. I…I couldn't get out. Couldn't stop it from happening."

"What did you see Eve?" Kol knelt closer to her, his face a blank slate as he covertly hid the stone in his pocket.

"I…I'm not sure. It…there was so much. Too much to understand." Her dull eyes flicked to Caroline, "Darkness and blood." Glancing back to Kol before she passed out.

"Should we try and wake her back up? Is she okay?" She felt a little better now that Eve had snapped out of whatever was happening to her, but her concern still shone within her eyes.

"She just needs to rest and regain her strength. Give her to me and I'll get her back to the Coven." Kol gently scooped her up into his arms, he didn't miss the looks Eve had given him. She had obviously seen something she did not want to tell him in front of Caroline. What that something was he had no idea. Maybe she only wished to figure her vision out for herself, only time would tell.

Caroline watched in worry as Kol carried the girl out of the room, "Do you think her vision means something?"

"Absolutely. But as to what that something is, we won't know until she can decipher just what it was that she saw."

Caroline followed him out to his car, opening the backdoor so he could gently lay her across the seat. As worried as she was about Eve she knew from Bonnie that passing out after a vision was pretty normal. A smirk curved her lips as an idea hit her while Kol carefully closed the backdoor.

"A young girl is passed out in my backseat and you're smiling." Kol stated suspiciously, knowing no good could come from whatever was running through the blonde's head.

Caroline grinned as she backed away from him, her arms swinging with glee, "Looks like you just found the perfect reason to call Bonnie back. She's pretty good with this vision stuff."

At Kol's shell-shocked face she spun on her heels she laughed loudly as she went back inside the club.

XXX

Klaus glanced around the mansion in Mystic Falls with a pleased glint to his eye. With nothing but a simple phone call his hybrids had scrambled, amazingly so, to do his bidding and pack up the contents of his home. He had no doubt that there would be an impending _chat_ -a highly heated one at that- with Caroline once she discovered his use of the hybrids, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

He may love her dearly, but she knew who he was, what his ambitions had been when he came to this godforsaken town. While he was willing to compromise on a plethora of things with her, he would not give up the hybrids he had fought so hard for. And he would not budge when it came to her safety. Though he was sure it would turn into a nasty disagreement, he was confident that in the end it would all work out for the best.

"I wasn't aware that the family was moving again." Elijah announced as way of a greeting, his eyes followed the hybrids cautiously as they carried boxes to the moving truck out front.

Klaus laughed, "You cannot pin your lack of knowledge or familial bonding on me this time big brother. This strife with you began long before the rest of us even knew of it. For once this was not _my_ doing. It all started and ended with _your_ transgressions. When you decided to put the life and well-being of your trifling whore above your own family." He tsked mockingly, "Selling our siblings out to me and my daggers, daggers which you always spoke of with such revulsion to might I add, all just to keep her safe."

Elijah stood tall, his head held high, "I'd appreciate you watching your tongue when speaking of Katerina."

Klaus's eyes shined with mirth as they widened, his lips pressed together tightly before he lost control and doubled over in riotous laughter.

"You can't be serious!" He eyed his uptight brother curiously, borrowing Caroline's terms and her wagging finger, "Perhaps you've taken a leave of your senses. That wench will do nothing more than use you and spit you out once she's gained whatever it is she needs of you."

"You're wrong Niklaus." Elijah tugged at his suit, marching over to the side table where the unpacked liquor sat to pour himself a finger of scotch, "Has she strayed from me over the years? Yes. As have I. But in the end, we always fine our way back to each other."

"Yes, behind the backs of your family and until the next _opportunity_ crosses her path." Klaus sneered angrily.

"I love her." Elijah stated with full conviction, staring his brother in the eyes, "Surely you can now understand fully what that means."

"You skate on dangerous grounds." Klaus growled, his eyes flashing in warning, "You'd do well not to try and use Caroline against me."

Elijah shook his head, sighing at how quickly his brother always assumed the worst, "I am doing nothing of the sort. I'm merely suggesting that now that you have found love, have accepted love into your life, that you may understand where I am coming from when it comes to Katerina."

"Caroline and Katerina have nothing in common. That's like comparing an angel to the devil."

"The devil is nothing more than a fallen angel, Niklaus." Elijah's voice carried his heavy guilt at having a hand in Katerina's fall from grace, "Would you not defy even your own family to protect her?"

"Caroline, unlike Katerina, would never ask such a thing of me." Klaus followed his brother's lead, pouring himself a drink as he spoke with a proud lilt. For once he held the higher ground over his self-professed noble brother.

"Knowing what little I do of Caroline, I would suppose not. But then again brother, she would not have to ask now, would she? If protecting her meant having to betray one of us, are you willing to tell me that you would not do it? If it meant saving her?" Elijah nodded his head, seeing the tormented answer begrudgingly reflected within his brother's eyes. "So, you are aware then. You can understand for the first time in all your life what it means to love someone so much that you would do the unspeakable and betray even your family." He smiled fondly, "I quite like the young and vibrant lady you have chosen and all that she has brought out in you."

"Your approval means the world to me." Klaus sneered sarcastically, downing his drink before slamming it to the table, "Shall I bow down and drop to my knees in prayer that my dear _saintly_ brother approves of my love life?"

"There is no need to be crass Niklaus. I'm simply attempting to inform you that I like the girl. Respect and admire her even. For she was capable of procuring the one thing I wanted most for us all."

"For your monstrous welp of a brother to grow a heart?"

"No Niklaus." Elijah shook his head sadly, "It has always been a pity that you never believed yourself capable of love or receiving such an emotion from others. But that is not what I speak of. I am talking about how she has single handedly brought our family together in a way that I never thought possible. To see you all living in harmony together, no matter how dysfunctional it may be. I only wish I could be a part of it as well."

Klaus clenched his jaw, walking over to the bookshelf to begin packing some of them up. He felt uncomfortable with how easy it would be to fall back on old patterns. Wanting nothing more than to share with Elijah all that Caroline had brought him when she accepted his love and gave him hers. There would have been a time when he would have loved nothing more than to sit around a fire and share his happiness with his older brother. The brother who he had always envisioned as his truest confidant. Gruffly he cleared his throat.

"It's touching that you hold Caroline in high regard, but I suspect this is not why you called this meeting with me."

"No. It is not." Elijah grimaced, watching the stiff set to his brother's shoulders, sorely missing the easy camaraderie that used to exist between them where now, nothing but a wide chasm laid stretched and barren between them. An empty reminder of how things used to be. "During our travels over the past few months, Katerina and I began picking up on the most peculiar whisperings. We followed the trail which eventually led us to New Orleans of all places."

Elijah eyed Klaus carefully as he turned to face him, watching as a shadow fell over his face as if he haunted by memories of a ghost. If only Elijah could prepare him for how true that feeling would be.

"Marcel is alive."

"What?" Klaus whispered in surprise, "That's not possible. We saw…" He gulped past the pain rapidly growing within his chest, "Mikael would not have allowed the boy to survive. Not knowing what he meant to the family, especially to me."

"I have not yet discovered how Marcel gained his survival, but as it sits at the present time, Marcel is calling himself the King of New Orleans. He has the werewolves banished from the city, the vampires running rampant and somehow he has the witches under his control."

"What else." Klaus growled with suspicion, "We may be estranged Elijah, but I know all of your tells."

"As I have stated, I do not have much information as of yet, but from the whispers Katerina and I overheard he is claiming that he has the power and the backing to take you, to take all of our family down. Niklaus, he plans to start a war."

"Does he now." Klaus scratched his chin thoughtfully, slowly walking around the room as Elijah's eyes tracked his every move. "Why after all this time, with us believing him to be dead, would he decide to take on me?"

In a sudden flash of movement, he had Elijah pinned to the wall, his forearm pressed tightly against his throat, a dagger poised and ready to thrust into his heart, "Maybe this is your doing brother." He spat, "Another one of your tricks to point me in the wrong direction. Another scheme to keep your dear sweet Katerina alive."

"I will not lie to you Niklaus, not again." Elijah croaked, keeping still to show he would make no move to stop him in his wrath, "Yes I hope that by coming to you, by _helping our family_ , that I can not only deter you all from killing the woman I love but to also find my way back into the family folds." He gasped in pain as the dagger dug further into his chest, yet still he did not fight back, "Look into my eyes Niklaus. Look into them and see the truth."

"The _truth_?! I fear I have learned that the truth is a foreign concept when coming from you _brother_." Tears welled in his eyes as he spat words that hurt them both viciously.

"Exactly brother. _Fear_ as you say. So, do not look for what you wish to see within me once again. Do not look with your hurt or your hate. Look for what is truly there Niklaus, my brother, my twin sword in battle."

Both men nearly choked on the emotions running rapid and so deeply through their cores. Wishing to find a way to trust again when that something was so fragile and quite possibly damaged beyond repair.

"I love you Niklaus. If you decide to dagger me today and leave me in a box to rot I will love you still. Have pity on a man who was torn between his loyalties. A man who bore a burden so deeply that it always had him running. The truth of it all is, it was not her leaving me to find other prospects and opportunities. It was _I_ who was always leaving _her_. I could not stand the guilt of being with her, even though I loved her. Have mercy on a man who only wishes to right his wrongs."

Klaus' lips curled as a traitorous tear leaked from his eye and slid down his cheek, "Love. Pity. Mercy. Tell me where were all those things from you towards me? Where were they when I needed my brother to stand by _my_ side! Where were you when I feared for the woman I love?!"

"They were always here. Some may have been buried deep and faded by the hands of time but never doubt that they were there. We are both damaged men Niklaus. But where you have grown strong and whole, I have remained hidden beneath the false assumption that I was the noble one." Elijah leaned his head back against the wall, pressing his chest closer to allow the dagger to begin to pierce his heart, "I am sorry Niklaus. I can only caution you to remain vigilant when seeking out Marcel. I do not know how deep his followers run nor who they all are yet, but once this is finished you will find detailed notes of all that I have discovered hidden within my breast pocket."

Klaus sniffled harshly, his teeth grinding as he raised his arm ready to thrust the dagger in completely.

"Keep them safe brother, as you have always done." Elijah whispered resignedly as he closed his eyes.

A savage yell tore from Klaus' lips as he threw the dagger across the room, backing away from Elijah.

Elijah stumbled from the wall at his sudden movement before righting himself, a look of unmasked stun covering his face.

"Do not mistake this act as a kindness or mercy." Klaus spat harshly, wiping his face of his unwanted show of emotion, he took on the role of the hard and battle ready hybrid, "You are my brother above it all. You will help me in discovering just what the boy is up to. You will not go off on your own or make your own plans without first consulting me. You will have three of my hybrids by your side at all times."

Elijah swallowed past the distrust his brother still held in him, nodding calmly at his demands, "Of course. And what of Katerina?"

"Well," Klaus smirked, "Your decidedly more repugnant half does have certain qualities that may come in handy in these little war games Marcel is deciding to play. So, lucky for her, she might be of some use to me yet."

"Katerina has already vowed to help in anyway she can in return for her freedom of your vendetta with her."

"Her freedom will not be up for debate until after I am assured that she will not double cross me again." Klaus forcefully snarl, leaving Elijah no room to attempt to argue.

"Very well. I shall head back to New Orleans and ready the house on the outskirts of town for your arrival. Before you say it," He held up a hand to stop Klaus from speaking, "allow me to assure you that I have secured a separate residence for Katerina and myself as I am sure it will be some time yet before the family will welcome either of us into our home." Handing over the details he had discovered with a simple polite nod of his head Elijah turned to leave.

"Oh and Elijah," Klaus waited until Elijah made it to the door to call out, his eyes glittering with an amused and dangerous light as he spoke almost gleefully, "Every last one of my hybrids will be ordered to weaken you to the point that you will be unable to lift even a single finger to save your dear Katerina as they tear her apart if either of you betrays me."

XXX

The club below was completely empty, not a single worker to be found as Klaus climbed the stairs to the roof as Caroline's text had asked him to.

Opening the door to the roof, Klaus breathed a sigh at the sight before him. Caroline stood beside a small iron table set for two, a shining smile gracing her lovely lips, her soft voice a much-needed caress to his senses after the day he had had.

"I figured after your chat with Elijah you'd need something a little more low-key."

The early evening sun shone around her, bathing her in a halo of light, wiping away all the stress the day had brought him.

Klaus hummed as he approached her, cupping her cheek and leaning his forehead against hers, "As long as I have you here then all will be well."

Caroline hummed happily in return, pressing a soft kiss to his waiting lips, "Well let's sit down and talk while we eat."

"How did training with Kol go today?" He asked her as he pulled out her chair.

Caroline watched as he rounded the table, it was killing her not to dive into the million questions she had about what he and Elijah had discussed. But by the weary slump of his shoulders, she could tell he wanted to avoid it for now. She had no doubts that he would tell her when he was ready. Which worked out for her anyways, after her day with Kol she too had her own thoughts and worries to contend to.

Busying herself with serving the food to their plates, she shrugged, "It wasn't too bad. Could have been better but whatever."

Klaus frowned, opening his mouth to ask why she felt that way but Caroline beat him to the punch.

"I mean seriously! It shouldn't be so hard to float a freaking feather. Bonnie made it look _so_ easy!"

Klaus chuckled at her exasperation, "You're a quick study Caroline. I'm sure with some time and practice it will all come to you naturally."

"Um, hello? Do you not know me at all?" Her eyes widened comically, much to his humor, which only caused her to deflate, "I know. I know. I can't be perfect at everything right away but still. You'd think with my family history it would come easy for me."

"The things in life that matter the most to us never come easy Caroline." Klaus leaned close to the table, his arm stretching across to feather his fingertips on top her hand, "But with hard work and unerring persistence, one will gain all that they desire."

Caroline playfully rolled her eyes, smacking his hand away with a goofy grin, "Oh just shut up and eat your dinner."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, nothing but the sounds of the city streets below and their dinnerware clinking Caroline spoke again.

"There were a few things that Kol said today that brought up some pretty interesting questions."

"I'm not sure if I want to know." Klaus groaned in mock despair, "Kol getting you or anyone thinking is usually a recipe for disaster."

Caroline leveled him with an unimpressed glare, waving her fork at him, "Kol has grown and you know it."

"I know. I know. Old habits and such." He grinned cheekily, "So why don't you put down the fork and tell me what it was."

"Well, it was two things actually."

"Do I detect a bit of stalling?" Klaus teased with his glass covering his smirking lips.

"Okay fine. Kol mentioned that you've only shifted once since breaking your curse. Why?" She watched him carefully as his body tensed, "There's no one around to hear you but me Klaus."

"Does this mean we can finally talk about how _you_ shifted?" He fired back.

Caroline sighed slumping back in her chair, "Fair point."

Klaus set his silverware to the table slowly, holding his breath as he wondered whether she would finally explain how and what had happened.

"I honestly don't know what happened." She nibbled on her lip, fingers playing with her silverware, "One minute I'm watching my Father die, then the next the spell started to take effect. When I finally came to all I saw was Hayley coming at you with that stake. The next thing I knew I was flying through the air with four legs instead of two." Her eyes locked with his, the fear she had felt at the time shining loudly in her glittering blue eyes.

Klaus gulped, whispering shakily, "Did it hurt?"

She frowned, wondering why of all the things he could ask her _that_ was what he chose, "No. It felt like a soothing fire licking my entire body, if that makes any sense. But it didn't hurt. Is that why you won't shift? Because of the pain?"

"Partly." His eyes tracked around anywhere but to her in avoidance.

She scoffed, "What kind of answer is that? _Partly._ It almost sounds like you have buyer's remorse or something. Like you finally have that pretty trinket you've always wanted but you don't know what to do with it."

By the displeasure on his face she knew she was on the right track.

"That's it isn't it? What are you so afraid of?"

"Why do you think it didn't hurt you to shift?" He deflected quickly.

"Probably because I was given my werewolf side before the curse took effect. You know my history." She shrugged, "At least that's the only thing I can think of. Now stop stalling. Tell me why."

Klaus stood roughly from his chair, his fingers carding through his hair, "You know I hate this part of our relationship."

"I know. The feeling can be mutual." Caroline grinned sweetly, "But that's what we do. We share things we might not want to. But we do it with only each other and know that it's safe. That _we_ are each other's safe place."

Klaus slowly shook his head in awe of her once again, "How is it that you've gained so much more wisdom than I?"

Caroline giggled, "Because I'm a people person Klaus. And besides, I'm _so_ much older than you."

Klaus tossed his head back with a groan, "We've been over this. Your time spent in stone does not count."

Caroline shrugged her shoulders, nonplussed with his argument. "Stop stalling and tell me Niklaus."

Klaus growled, "Fine. Yes it's partly due to the pain but the rest," He sighed, slumping back down into his chair, "Maybe it is as you say it, that I don't rightly know what to do with it now that I hold it."

"But…"

"I wasn't given time to explore that side of myself. I wasn't able to learn about what it means to be a werewolf." His soft voice, showcasing his vulnerability stopped her.

"But you've been around for centuries," She added softly, "I'm sure you found information..."

"When? When would I have had time for that Caroline?" Klaus snapped, harshly knocking the dished to the floor, "While Mikael was hunting me down? While he nearly eradicated the world of my kind? While the packs that I did find shunned me and denied me my rights to know?"

Caroline stood from the table, side stepping the mess of dishes he had swiped to the ground. Wrapping her arms around him from behind, "I'm sorry. I guess I never thought about that. But hey," she ducked her head to face him, "I don't know much about being part werewolf either. We can figure it all out together okay?"

Klaus sighed, rubbing her arm that was laced around his chest, embarrassed at his outburst and wishing to change the subject, "So what was the other thing Kol's chatter brought out in you?"

Caroline nervously licked her lips, her eyes scanning the sky around them as she stepped away from him twisting her hands together. Klaus picked up on the change in her, but having no clue as to its cause, he stayed silent as she spoke.

"Kol said that it might take awhile for the changes in me to take effect. That we might not know when or how they will show up or even what they are completely until they happen. And I guess it just got me thinking."

His eyes followed her as she stepped closer to the edge of the roof, the sunlight surrounding her as she fiddled with her fingers.

Caroline glanced over her shoulder, a nervous grin on her face, "Only one way to find out though, huh?"

That's when Klaus realized what she was planning. Jumping to his feet he flashed to her side as she began pulling her daylight ring off her hand. He tried to stop her, but as fast as he was, it was too late.

Her ring clinked to the roof.

"No!" Klaus yelled as he reached her side, scooping up her ring to place it back to her hand before she burnt to ash.

Only she didn't.

Klaus gazed at her stunned as she gasped, her eyes falling closed and her arms held out wide.

Slowly she dropped her arms to her side, turning to face him with a look of utter wonderment upon her sunbathed features, her voice a soft melody.

"I always took the feeling of the sun for granted. When I was human I mean. Then I was turned, and the sun became my enemy. I wanted it back _so_ much. To stand in the sun, to feel its heat on my flesh. When Bonnie finally made me a ring I felt nervous and excited about stepping outside during the day again. But then _everything_ changed. I could stand in it, lay in it, walk in it, but I could never really _feel_ it."

"I remember." Klaus croaked, recalling all the years spent basking in the sun without feeling it. Before he broken the curse, like his siblings he could burn in the sun, feel the fiery death that it caused their kind, but they would always survive. After breaking the curse he, like Caroline now, tempted fate by removing his ring, feeling the rays caress his skin for the first time in a thousand years.

It had been glorious.

He wore his daylight ring out of habit, but also as a means of protection. Licking his lips, he began to explain, "I understand the full weight of what you are feeling My Love, and I do not wish to take anything away from you but," He hesitated when faced with her elated smile, "There are many that do not know that a hybrid cannot be harmed but the sun."

Caroline frowned, her eyes glancing down to his daylight ring he still wore, "You want me to wear mine like you do. Even though we can stand in the sun and not be hurt." Her eyes met his, "You don't want anyone to know so that we can have the advantage of someone tries to hurt us with the sunlight."

Klaus smiled softly, his hand caressing her face, "You never stop proving just how intelligent you truly are." He picked up her hand, ready to put her ring back on.

"Wait!" Caroline shouted, pulling her hand back, her lower lip caught between her teeth looking up at him with a child-like pout, "Can I just enjoy this for a little while longer?"

Seeing no harm since they were alone, he caved, "Alright Caroline."

Caroline turned to face the sun once more, her head tilted back, and her eyes closed as she muttered, "Thanks. After this you can tell me all about what happened with Elijah."

XXX

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I figured I'd save the Author's Note for the end of the chapter. This story started out as my baby and has turned into my own personal nightmare. I was second guessing my every move with this story to the point I began avoiding it at all cost. I tried to turn to other stories to help "get back to it" and distract me but the guilt over not working on this one bit me in the rear making it difficult to complete anything. I don't feel this was my strongest chapter, I feel like I could have done so much better than what you just read but I decided to just go with it. Semi filler chapter but still had many important factors.

Before anyone says anything, yes Klaus will be talking to Caroline and the family about Elijah. And I know that she never said anything about Eve's vision, I had originally planned for her to but decided to have it come up later. Klaus is and will always be Klaus, hybrids will be an issue they will have to work through.

Anywho- I hope you all found some enjoyment out of this chapter. A HUGE thank you goes out to my soul sister Ashleigh. Without her love and support I never would have gotten past my personal hang-ups about this story so I could finally resume work on it again.

Reviews- big or small- are every author's life blood.


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